China Evergrande Ordered to Demolish 39-Building Resort

A section of the Evergrande mega-project complexes is seen on Haihua Islands in Danzhou in south China's Hainan province on Nov. 19, 2019. (Chinatopix Via AP)

BEIJING—A troubled Chinese real estate developer that is struggling with $310 billion in debt announced Tuesday it has been ordered to demolish a 39-building resort complex in a new blow to its finances.

Evergrande Group gave no explanation, but news reports said the government of Danzhou, a city on the southern island province of Hainan, found it was improperly built and violated urban planning law.

Evergrande’s struggle to comply with tighter official restrictions on use of borrowed money by China’s real estate industry have prompted fears of a possible default and financial crisis.

Evergrande asked Monday for trading of its shares in Hong Kong to be suspended. Trading resumed following Tuesday’s announcement, gaining 7.6 percent.

The company gave no indication of the possible loss from the demolition of the buildings on Ocean Flower Island. It said other buildings on the island weren’t affected by the order.

A man passes by a map depicting Evergrande's commercial projects in China at a mall in Beijing, on Dec. 7, 2021. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Evergrande, the global real estate industry’s most-heavily-indebted developer, warned last month it might run out of cash to keep up with debt payments and other obligations.

The company says it has 2.3 trillion yuan ($350 billion) in assets and 2 trillion yuan ($310 billion in debt), but it has struggled to sell assets fast enough to keep up payments to bondholders. Construction of some projects was temporarily suspended after contractors complained they weren’t being paid.

Tuesday’s announcement said buyers in 20210 signed contracts to purchase property worth a total of 442 billion yuan ($70 billion).

The Chinese regime tightened restrictions on developers last year.

The Danzhou government’s order said Evergrande’s project violated a national urban planning law. It said the government will organize demolition if the company fails to act.

The Hainan government ordered an investigation last year of Ocean Flower Island, a complex of hotels, an amusement park, and other facilities, according to news reports. They said some building permissions were revoked and fines of 215 million yuan ($34 million) were imposed for planning and construction violations.