Xu Jiayin was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Evergrande Group was fined 8.82 billion yuan

On the morning of August 20, 2026, the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province publicly announced the first-instance verdict in the case of Evergrande Group Co., Ltd., Evergrande Real Estate Group Co., Ltd., and defendant Xu Jiayin. The court imposed multiple penalties on Evergrande Group, sentencing it to a fine of 8.82 billion yuan; it fined Evergrande Real Estate 7 billion yuan; and sentenced Xu Jiayin to life imprisonment for multiple crimes, depriving him of political rights for life, and confiscating all personal property; it also ordered the continued recovery of illegal gains, with any shortfall to be compensated.

The court found that Xu Jiayin is the actual controller of Evergrande Group. Between 2016 and 2021, Evergrande Group, Evergrande Real Estate, and Xu Jiayin inflated assets and concealed liabilities through financial fraud and other means, committing crimes such as illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities, and illegally disclosing important information; they also obtained control of financial institutions through bribery, illegally siphoning off credit and insurance funds. Xu Jiayin further exploited his position to organize financial fraud, misappropriating company property under the guise of dividends. The court deemed these actions to severely disrupt the market economic order, with particularly huge amounts involved and particularly heinous circumstances, and imposed severe penalties according to the law.

On the same day, the two levels of courts in Shenzhen also ruled on the cases of individuals involved in Evergrande related to illegally absorbing public deposits and fundraising fraud, sentencing 56 individuals including Zhen Litiao, Ke Peng, Xu Tenghe, and Xu Zhijian to prison terms ranging from eighteen years to one year and ten months, along with fines or confiscation of property.