{
  "id": 2081618,
  "title": "Immobilienkrise in China: Lebenslange Haft für Evergrande-Gründer",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/immobilienkrise-in-china-lebenslange-haft-fur-evergrande-grunder-2081618",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-20T05:50:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/immobilienkrise-in-china-lebenslange-haft-fuer-evergrande-gruender/100248487.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Xu Jiayin, the founder of collapsed Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande, has been sentenced to life in prison. The Middle People's Court of Shenzhen found him guilty of eight economic crimes, including fraud in capital raising, fraudulent issuance of securities, embezzlement, and bribery, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. The court stripped Xu of his political rights and ordered the seizure of his entire personal wealth. During his April trial, Xu admitted guilt and expressed remorse. Separate fines were also imposed against two of Evergrande's subsidiary companies, with Evergrande Group ordered to pay 8.82 billion Yuan, or approximately 1.1 billion Euros, and Evergrande Real Estate fined 7 billion Yuan, or around 900 million Euros. The court's findings revealed that Xu and the companies continued to falsify financial data between 2016 and 2021, inflating assets and concealing liabilities. By bribing financial institutions, they gained control over credit and insurance funds, thus acquiring Evergrande and the conglomerate's loans and insurance revenues illegally. That same day, other Shenzhen courts sentenced 56 people connected to the company to prison terms ranging from one year and ten months to 18 years. Evergrande, once a symbol of China's real estate boom fueled by borrowed money, had grown to become one of the country's largest real estate developers at its peak. However, with Beijing limiting borrowing for heavily indebted builders in 2020, the company's financial problems worsened. By the end of 2021, Evergrande defaulted on international bonds. In its latest half-year report as of June 30, 2023, the conglomerate reported liabilities of 2.39 trillion Yuan, or approximately 305 billion Euros. Its collapse became a symbol of the ongoing real estate crisis in China. A court in Hong Kong ordered the liquidation of Evergrande's listed holding company in January 2024 after no viable refinancing was possible. In August 2025, the Evergrande stock was removed from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.",
  "summary": "Der Zusammenbruch von Evergrande wurde zum Symbol für Chinas Immobilienkrise. Nun verurteilt ein Gericht Gründer Xu Jiayin zu lebenslanger Haft. Auch sein gesamtes Vermögen wird eingezogen.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Handelsblatt",
        "title": "Immobilienkrise in China: Lebenslange Haft für Evergrande-Gründer",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/immobilienkrise-in-china-lebenslange-haft-fur-evergrande-grunder",
        "published": "2026-08-20T06:00:10.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}