(Hong Kong) The Chinese developer with astronomical debt Evergrande confirmed on Tuesday the resumption of its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where trading in the stock had been suspended since Thursday.
The group took this decision the day after press reports that the company’s director, Xu Jiayin, was under house arrest. Evergrande shares then lost 19%.
The group has since conceded that Xu Jiayin (also known by his Cantonese name Hui Ka Yan) was “subject to coercive measures due to suspicion of committing a crime or offense in violation of the law”, without giving further details on the nature of the alleged facts.
The term “coercive measures” generally refers in China to a form of deprivation of liberty in order to guarantee the smooth running of criminal proceedings.
Unexpectedly, the group requested a resumption of trading on the stock exchange on Monday.
“The board of directors considers that the company’s activities are normal and that there is no other information concerning the company which must be made public,” Evergrande indicated Monday evening in order to, apparently he said, justifying the resumption of trade.
This announcement comes during a week of holidays in China for the National Day (1er October), a generally favorable period for real estate purchases.
Evergrande, whose descent into hell regularly makes the headlines, had a colossal balance at the end of June estimated at 328 billion dollars (307 billion euros).
The setbacks of the group, former number one in real estate in China, have for two years fueled distrust in a sector that has long been very lucrative, but is now shunned, against a backdrop of economic slowdown and unfinished housing.
In recent months, this crisis of confidence has overtaken groups previously considered financially solid, such as Country Garden, one of Evergrande’s competitors.