Police in a city in southern China announced the arrest of several members of the asset management team of the Chinese company Evergrande Group, a new setback for the indebted real estate developer.
Authorities “took criminal coercive measures against suspects such as Du and others in Evergrande Group’s financial asset management (in Shenzhen),” according to a Shenzhen police statement released Saturday.
At first it was not clear who Du was. The firm did not respond to questions seeking comment.
Media reports about investor protests at Evergrande’s headquarters in Shenzhen in 2021 mentioned a person named Du Liang as head of the company’s asset management unit.
Evergrande is the most indebted real estate developer in the world and is at the center of a real estate crisis that is hampering Chinese economic growth.
The group is immersed in a restructuring process that includes divesting assets to avoid a suspension of payments on its $340 billion debt.
China’s national financial regulator announced on Friday that it had approved the acquisition of the group’s life insurance arm by a new state-owned entity.
A series of debt defaults across China’s vast real estate sector since 2021 have left a trail of half-built apartment buildings and disgruntled buyers. Analysts fear the housing crisis could further slow the world’s second-largest economy and spread globally.
