THE RICHEST ASIAN WOMAN YANG HUIYAN HAS BECOME IMPOVERISHED BY 52%

The main shareholder of the Chinese developer Country Garden, which owns the largest share of shares, has become poorer by 52% over the past seven months. According to BBI (Bloomberg Billionaires Index), Yang Huiyan's fortune now stands at $11.3 billion (instead of $23.7 billion in 2021). The reason for this, analysts call the growing mortgage crisis in China.

The burden of unaffordable loans, which turned out to be the largest Chinese developer Evergrande, led to a sharp drop in the pace of construction in China at the beginning of this year. Rusbankrot wrote about the threat of such a state of affairs for the economy of the Celestial Empire last autumn.

This situation has not bypassed the construction business of the Chinese entrepreneur. The company's debts have grown, and June sales have grown very slightly. This is evidenced by data from the Hong Kong-based analytical company Everbright Securities International. Experts believe that this fall is not yet final. A further reduction in sales of at least 30% is predicted.

Last month, Moody's Investors Service lowered Garden's credit indicators to "junk". The rating firm presented a "negative" forecast for the work of the Chinese developer, citing the deterioration of the overall financial situation of the organization, as well as limited access to long-term financing.

The real estate crisis, which has affected many Chinese developers since 2020, has taken a slightly different turn recently. Thousands of home buyers have stopped paying mortgages on stopped construction projects.

The securities of the Country Garden company have been in a relatively stable position for a long time, but in recent months they have begun to rapidly become cheaper. Last Wednesday, they fell in value by 15% at once. According to experts, the reason for the company's problems is the low profitability of Chinese cities, where most development projects have been launched.

Recall that Yang Huiyan is the second daughter of the Chinese builder Yang Guo–Qiang, who founded the Country Garden in the southern city of Foshan. In 2007, her father transferred to her about 70% of the shares of the family enterprise, remaining chairman of the board of directors. So a 25-year-old graduate of a university in the US state of Ohio became the wealthiest woman in Asia.

Now she owns about 60% of the shares in the construction holding, as well as 43% of the shares of her own consulting firm providing management services. Her husband, older sister and cousin are also on the company's board of directors. According to Bloomberg, Yang Huiyan remains in the first position among the richest women in China. Fan Hongwei, the head of the chemical fiber manufacturing company Hengli Petrochemical, is following her with a backlog of $ 100 million.