A Hong Kong court has ordered the liquidation of the Evergrande Group, China's giant and massively indebted real estate developer, after the company was unable to restructure the $300 billion it owed investors.
Just six years ago, Evergrande was riding high, preselling apartments to middle- and upper-income Chinese. In 2018, it was listed as the world's most valuable real estate company. But just three years later, it was on the financial ropes. Massively overleveraged and unable to complete some existing projects, Evergrande has become symbolic of a Chinese economy that faces some major near-term obstacles: slowing growth, increasing debt and a shrinking workforce.
