Founder of China's Evergrande pleads guilty to fraud: court

BEIJING

Guangzhou Evergrande's chairman Xu Jiayin attends a football signing ceremony in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province on May 17, 2012. (AFP)

The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said on Tuesday, in the latest blow for what was once the country's leading developer.

Evergrande's rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanisation and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation.

The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors.

Founder Xu Jiayin, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to measures "due to suspicion of illegal crimes".

A public hearing was held Monday and Tuesday on a case against Xu for "illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, illegally issuing loans, illegally using funds, fraudulently issuing securities, disclosing important information in violation of regulations, embezzlement and (corporate) bribery", a court statement said.

"Xu Jiayin pleaded guilty and expressed remorse in court," the statement from the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in southern Guangdong province said, without elaborating further.

Evergrande Group and its real estate arm also stood trial.

The court said it would announce a verdict at a later date.