Billionaire Chinese developer Zhang Li no longer subject to electronic monitoring in London while he fights US extradition

Name: China housing: Can the world’s biggest housing market boom again?
Uploaded: 2023-01-31T13:27:50.000Z
Duration: 11 min 5 s
Description: China housing: Can the world’s biggest housing market boom again?

Judge in London also said Zhang will no longer have to wear handcuffs to travel from his flat to the indoor pool at a luxury development in London

Zhang’s extradition case to be heard over three days beginning July 24

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Zhang Li, co-founder of R&F Properties, during a press conference in Hong Kong. Photo: Imaginechina/AP

Chad Brayin London

Published: 9:27pm, 31 Jan 2023

Billionaire Chinese property developer Zhang Li will no longer be subject to electronic monitoring while out on bail or have to wear handcuffs to visit the pool in his luxury tower in London as he fights extradition to the United States, a judge has ruled.

The co-founder of debt-stricken Guangzhou R&F Properties was arrested by London police on November 30, as US authorities are seeking to extradite him to face bribery charges related to Z&L Properties, a California-based company R&F has said is owned by Zhang and his affiliate.

R&F has distanced itself from the situation, saying it had “no interest” in Z&L Properties and denied a media report last year that it had provided up to £10 million (US$12.3 million) of Zhang’s bail.

While he awaits an extradition hearing later this year, Zhang is free on a £15 million bail and is staying in a 43rd-floor flat in a development that was once one of his company’s showcase projects in London near the US embassy in the Nine Elms area.

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China housing: Can the world’s biggest housing market boom again?

Lawyers for Zhang asked a judge to alter his bail conditions at a hearing in Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday, saying metal in the tower building was likely interfering with his electronic monitoring bracelet and the bracelet was not functioning properly despite all their best efforts.

Mark Summers, a lawyer for Zhang, told the court that the building’s structure is causing the ankle bracelet to constantly seek a signal, forcing it to be recharged every two hours and it cannot be recharged while Zhang sleeps, as it could “electrocute” him.