China sentences Evergrande’s Xu Jiayin to life in prison, fines group US$2.4 billion
A Chinese court sentenced Evergrande Group founder Xu Jiayin to life in prison and fined the property giant US$2.4 billion on Thursday for fraud and other offences, five years after the group’s landmark default.
Source: Channel NewsAsia · August 20, 2026 at 5:01 PM · AI-assisted report
Single-sourceKUALA LUMPUR, 21 AUGUST 2026 —
A Chinese court sentenced Evergrande Group founder Xu Jiayin to life in prison and fined the property giant US$2.4 billion on Thursday for fraud and other offences, five years after the group’s landmark default.
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The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong province ordered the company and its real estate arm to pay a combined 15.82 billion yuan in fines. It also revoked Xu’s political rights for life and confiscated all his personal assets, according to a court statement on WeChat.
Between 2016 and 2021, Evergrande and Xu “engaged in continuous, large-scale financial fraud” to inflate assets and hide liabilities, the court said. It added that they gained control of financial institutions through bribery, though no institutions were named.
Xu pleaded guilty in April to charges that included embezzlement and bribery. The verdict completes the dramatic fall of a man who was once one of China’s richest billionaires and a member of the Communist Party’s top political advisory body.
Photographs circulating on social media contrasted a smiling Xu from years past—jet-black hair, gold Hermès belt—with a court-released image showing a white-haired, gaunt Xu flanked by police officers during Thursday’s hearing.
The court said Xu’s actions “seriously disrupted the socialist market economic order” and undermined official integrity. It called the case’s circumstances “particularly egregious,” citing “particularly serious economic losses and social harm.”
The ruling follows the sentencing of five other Evergrande executives on Thursday, with prison terms ranging from six to 18 years for fraud. Xinhua reported that 56 people in total received jail terms, including Xu’s two sons, with the shortest sentence set at one year and 10 months.
Observers tracking China’s property slump have closely monitored Evergrande’s collapse alongside troubles at peers such as Country Garden and Vanke. New-home prices in China have contracted for three straight years.
The court ordered remaining illegal gains to be returned.
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