China’s richest builder loses wealth while top 10 billionaire developers boost combined worth: Hurun Report

Hui’s net worth shrank by 45 billion yuan (US$6.37 billion), or 21 per cent, to 170 billion yuan on August 15 from a year ago, according to the Hurun Property Rich List 2019 released on Wednesday. Hui, also known by his Chinese name of Xu Jiayin, has seen his fortunes eroded over the past two years as Evergrande took a beating on the stock market amid a financing squeeze on developers.

Shares of Evergrande, China’s third-largest home builder by sales, tumbled by 22 per cent this year through October 30, according to Bloomberg data, while an index tracking property stocks within the Hang Seng Index rose 3.1 per cent on average.

Dalian Wanda, controlled by Wang Jianlin, wasn’t spared either. His closely held property and entertainment group has stumbled in recent months after an aggressive expansion at home and abroad backfired, forcing it to trim assets to ease debt burden. Wang’s personal worth fell by 8 per cent to 60 billion yuan over the coverage period, according to the Hurun Report. His ranking slipped three rungs to sixth.

The Communist Party’s Politburo, the top decision-making body, warned in July against using property as a tool to stimulate the economy in the short-run even as growth was headed for its slowest on record. In addition, regulators in May banned direct financing to developers which have not secured necessary approvals to start construction. The restriction was later widened to include indirect financing through equity and bond markets.