Liquidators of collapsed Chinese property giant Evergrande have recovered assets worth just 1 percent of the $46 billion in debt claims filed against the company, more than two and a half years after a Hong Kong court ordered its liquidation.
According to an Oct. 22 report, liquidators have recovered $435.9 million from Evergrande and its subsidiaries. Of that amount, approximately $280.8 million has been recovered directly by or transferred to the parent company.
Creditors have yet to receive any payments. The liquidators aim to begin distributions in the first half of 2027 but cannot estimate how much creditors will receive.
Evergrande was once one of China’s largest property developers, building residential towers across the country. It expanded into electric vehicles, financial services, and other businesses, borrowing heavily to finance its growth.
Its collapse left suppliers unpaid and many Chinese families waiting for apartments they had purchased but that remained unfinished.
At its peak, Evergrande had more than $300 billion in liabilities. Its liquidators are now seeking to recover what remains of the company’s sprawling business empire to repay creditors.
The Search for Evergrande’s Assets
The effort encountered a major obstacle almost immediately after the Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande liquidated in January 2024.
The liquidators said access to the company’s mainland accounting system was disabled without notice, and they have never regained direct access. The report did not identify who disabled the system.
They have recovered financial records from other sources, but much of the information remains fragmented and incomplete.
The liquidators also identified transactions without adequate supporting documents, potentially invalid dividend payments, and unexplained transfers of ownership interests among subsidiaries.
Evergrande’s vast corporate structure has further complicated the recovery effort.
The developer operated through thousands of companies, many of them in mainland China. More than 650 have entered bankruptcy proceedings of their own.
Much of Evergrande’s mainland investment consisted of ownership stakes rather than loans. Money raised by selling a subsidiary’s assets generally must first go toward paying that subsidiary’s creditors. Only any remaining funds can potentially reach shareholders, including the Hong Kong parent company.
The liquidators described prospects for recovering value from mainland subsidiaries as remote.
An Art Collection Sold at a Loss
Among the assets recovered were more than 100 artworks housed at Evergrande’s former Hong Kong headquarters and a storage warehouse.
The collection included works by Picasso, Monet, and Andy Warhol, along with sculptures by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
Between March 2016 and September 2017, Evergrande spent approximately $170 million acquiring 110 artworks, including 95 purchased from a single Hong Kong dealer.
Some were intended for display in a private clubhouse at the company’s headquarters, according to the liquidators.
By October 2021, as Evergrande struggled to raise cash, the company had sold five of its most valuable pieces. Those works accounted for more than half the collection’s original purchase cost, and their sale resulted in a loss of approximately $26 million.
The liquidators subsequently took possession of 107 artworks, some of which had been moved into storage without proper packing or preservation.
They appointed Sotheby’s to arrange sales at auctions in Hong Kong, Paris, London, New York, and Singapore.
So far, 96 artworks have been sold for approximately $28.8 million in net proceeds. The liquidators said the sales resulted in an overall loss compared with the original purchase prices.
Other substantial assets remain unsold, including Evergrande’s controlling stake in a property-management company.
After an earlier prospective buyer withdrew, the liquidators entered exclusive negotiations with another bidder in September. A Hong Kong stock exchange filing said the negotiating period was scheduled to expire Oct. 27 unless extended or otherwise changed.
Founder Sentenced, Billions Still Being Pursued
Evergrande’s collapse has also led to criminal convictions and lawsuits involving former executives and the company’s auditors.
Founder Xu Jiayin, also known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, once among China’s richest men, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court on Aug. 20 for offenses including financial fraud and bribery.
Xu Jiayin, also known as Hui Ka Yan, founder of property developer Evergrande, appears for sentencing at the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Shenzhen, China, on Aug. 20, 2026. Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court /Xinhua via AP
The first-instance ruling also ordered the confiscation of his personal property and recovery or restitution of unlawful gains.
Separately, the Hong Kong liquidators are seeking more than $6.5 billion through civil proceedings involving Xu, former executives, and associates over disputed dividend payments and other claims.
They are also pursuing $8.4 billion in damages from PwC’s Hong Kong and mainland auditing firms over alleged audit failures.
Hong Kong’s Accounting and Financial Reporting Council fined PwC Hong Kong HK$300 million ($38 million) in April after finding serious misconduct in its Evergrande audits.
The multibillion-dollar civil claims have not resulted in corresponding recoveries.
The liquidators have obtained court orders freezing the assets of Xu and other former executives while continuing efforts to locate and secure their property.
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