Overview
- The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on Thursday, August 20, 2026, sentenced Xu Jiayin to life imprisonment, stripped him of political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets.
- The court imposed criminal fines of 8,820 million yuan on China Evergrande Group and 7,000 million yuan on Evergrande Real Estate as part of the first‑instance ruling.
- Judges found that between 2016 and 2021 Xu and Evergrande carried out sustained, large‑scale financial falsification that inflated assets and hid liabilities and that the group committed crimes including illegal public deposit‑taking, fraudulent fundraising, fraudulent securities issuance, bribery and embezzlement.
- Fifty‑six other people tied to the case received prison terms ranging from about one year and ten months up to 18 years, and the court ordered recovery of illicit gains with further civil compensation possible if fines and confiscations fall short.
- The sentence closes the criminal chapter against Evergrande’s founder but does not resolve complex cross‑border liquidation questions from a 2024 Hong Kong order or the wider strains in China’s property sector that continue to affect homebuyers, suppliers and local government finances.