Investor files liquidation petition in China against Evergrande unit By Reuters

By Xie Yu

HONG KONG (Reuters) -An investor has filed a petition to a court in China to liquidate a major unit of the heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande (HK:), according to a stock filing by the petitioner on Wednesday.

The investor – Vanward, a Shenzhen-listed electric appliance manufacturer – cited a dispute with the Evergrande unit Guangzhou Kailong Real Estate over an investment worth 200 million yuan ($27.9 million).

A court in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is reviewing the case, the filing said.

Evergrande did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Kailong is a key unit of Evergrande. It controls a 60.3% stake of Hengda Real Estate, Evergrande’s flagship property entity in mainland China, business registry database Qichacha showed.

Vanward won an arbitrary ruling in Shenzhen in December 2022 that called on Kailong to return the investment with interest accrued and legal costs. Kaikong has yet to comply, Vanward said in the filing.

On Monday, Evergrande’s electric vehicle unit said a Chinese court had ruled that two of its subsidiaries must enter bankruptcy and be reorganised.

In January, a Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande, once China’s largest property developer, to be liquidated after failing to provide a satisfactory restructuring plan for $23 billion in offshore debt.

Overall, Evergrande has more than $300 billion in liabilities.