Former China Evergrande Group chairman Xu Jiayin stands in court during the first-instance verdict at the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in South China's Guangdong Province on August 20, 2026. Photo: CCTV News

Former China Evergrande Group chairman Xu Jiayin, also known as Hui Ka Yan, was sentenced to life imprisonment in first-instance verdict on Thursday after being convicted of multiple crimes, including illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud and fraudulent issuance of securities, CCTV News reported.

Xu, 67, was also deprived of political rights for life and had all his personal property confiscated. Evergrande Group was fined 8.82 billion yuan ($1.23 billion), while Evergrande Real Estate Group was fined 7 billion yuan, according to the verdict.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in South China's Guangdong Province publicly delivered its first-instance verdict on Thursday morning in the cases involving Evergrande Group Co, Evergrande Real Estate Group Co and Xu. The court ordered the continued recovery of illegal gains and restitution for any unrecovered amount.

The court found that Xu was the actual controller of Evergrande Group and had overall responsibility for its operations. He managed and controlled a number of companies, including Evergrande Real Estate, Evergrande Wealth and Evergrande Nanchang, with investments spanning real estate, property services and finance.

From 2016 to 2021, Evergrande Group, Evergrande Real Estate and Xu violated Chinese laws by engaging in sustained, large-scale financial fraud, including inflating assets and concealing liabilities, the court found. Their conduct involved crimes including illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities and illegal disclosure of important information.

The court also found that Evergrande Group and Xu obtained control of financial institutions through bribery and other means, and illegally obtained credit and insurance funds for use by Evergrande Group. These acts involved crimes including offering bribes by an entity, illegally granting loans and illegally using funds.

Xu also took advantage of his position as chairman of Evergrande Real Estate to organize financial fraud and misappropriate company property in the form of dividend payments, according to the court.

The court ruled that Evergrande Group and Xu were guilty of illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, illegally granting loans, fraudulent issuance of securities, illegal disclosure of important information and offering bribes by an entity. Xu was also found guilty of illegally using funds and occupational embezzlement, while Evergrande Real Estate was convicted of fraudulent issuance of securities.

The court said the crimes committed by Evergrande Group, Evergrande Real Estate and Xu seriously disrupted the socialist market economic order, infringed upon public and private property rights and undermined the integrity of official conduct. 

The court said the amounts involved were exceptionally large, the circumstances were particularly egregious, the crimes caused exceptionally severe economic losses and the social harm was particularly serious, warranting severe punishment in accordance with the law.

The court said the sentences were imposed in accordance with the law based on the facts, nature and circumstances of the crimes and the degree of harm caused to society. Under relevant laws and judicial interpretations, compensation for losses takes priority over the enforcement of fines and property confiscation.

Also on Thursday, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court and the Shenzhen Nanshan District People's Court delivered verdicts in related cases involving Evergrande Group personnel over crimes including illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud and illegally using funds. Fifty-six people, including Zhen Litao, Ke Peng, Xu Tenghe, Xu Zhijian, Du Liang and Liang Dong, received prison terms ranging from 18 years to one year and 10 months, along with fines or property confiscation. The courts also ordered the continued recovery of illegal gains and restitution for any unrecovered amount.

Global Times