The low-key Chinese-born Yang Huiyan’s wealth was valued at $23.7 billion last year. It is now estimated at only 11.3 billion, a sharp loss due to the real estate crisis currently raging in China. This crisis has seriously weakened the sector.
She is the majority shareholder of Country Garden, one of China’s largest developers, which last year achieved the highest turnover in the sector despite a real estate crisis that has been raging for several months. .
According to the Bloomberg ranking of billionaires, some groups are facing financial difficulties, such as the promoter Evergrande, weakened by an abysmal debt of some 300 billion dollars.
Country Garden is in better financial health than its competitor Evergrande, but the group is nevertheless trying to increase its liquidity as payment deadlines approach. On August 3, the group put new shares up for sale to raise funds, which was seen by the markets as a sign of vulnerability.
On August 3, Country Garden shares lost 15% of their value on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, further reducing Yang Huiyan’s personal fortune.
According to the official press, Yang Huiyan has become a billionaire since she inherited the shares of her father, the founder of Country Garden, in 2005.
The housing reform in China (1998), which created a genuine real estate market, led to a meteoric boom in the sector, maintained by social norms, the acquisition of property often being a prerequisite for marriage.
However, the massive indebtedness of real estate developers has been perceived in recent years by the Chinese government as a major risk for the country’s economy and financial system.
To reduce the sector’s indebtedness, China has gradually tightened credit access conditions for promoters since 2020, reducing access to sources of financing for groups already in debt. A wave of defaults followed, including that of the Evergrande group.
