Founder of China’s Evergrande sentenced to life in prison

The founder of Evergrande, the property giant at the centre of China’s housing market slump, has been sentenced to life in prison and had all of his personal property confiscated.

Hui Ka Yan pleaded guilty in April to several charges, including embezzlement of assets and corporate bribery.

Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court also fined Evergrande Group 8.82bn yuan (£960m; $1.31bn), while its real estate unit was ordered to pay 7bn yuan, according to state media.

Hui’s sentencing marks a pivotal moment in the fallout from Evergrande’s collapse, which shook China’s property sector and left investors and domestic banks reeling.

Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, rose from humble beginnings in rural China, where he was raised by his grandmother before venturing into property development and setting up Evergrande in 1996.

He oversaw the company’s rapid rise through an aggressive expansion funded with large amounts of borrowed money.

The firm became China’s biggest real estate developer, with a stock market valuation of more than $50bn (£36.7bn), but collapsed in 2021.

Evergrande’s implosion has often been blamed for triggering a broader slump in China’s property market that continues to weigh heavily on the economy.