Hong Kong Exchange Suspends Trading of Evergrande and Affiliates' Stocks
On the 28th, trading of shares of Evergrande, a Chinese real estate developer, was suspended on the Hong Kong stock market.
According to local Chinese media on the day, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange announced that it had suspended trading of shares of Evergrande and its subsidiaries, Evergrande New Energy Vehicles and Evergrande Real Estate Services.
This measure comes just one month after the Hong Kong Exchange resumed trading of Evergrande shares following a 17-month suspension that began in March last year. The exchange did not disclose the reason for the suspension of securities trading this time.
The market views this trading suspension as related to government surveillance and investigation of Evergrande’s founder, Chairman Xu Jiayin. The previous day, Bloomberg reported that Chairman Xu was detained at an undisclosed location and was under police surveillance. While residential monitoring does not officially indicate detention or arrest that would lead to prosecution, it means that Chairman Xu cannot leave a specific place and cannot communicate with others without permission.
Evergrande is considered the epicenter of China’s real estate crisis. With China’s economic growth, the real estate market also flourished, and Evergrande prospered, but when concerns about a real estate bubble burst arose and authorities tightened financial controls, it was hit hard. Evergrande was the first among China’s major real estate developers to default in December 2021.
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