Questions on China

Evergrande liquidation would be keenly watched

On Monday, a judge in Hong Kong, which is officially part of China but has an independent legal system based on British principles, ruled that the liquidation process should begin for property major Evergrande Group. The developer was once the favoured child of mainland China’s property boom, but it has as swiftly become emblematic of the real estate bust, which has cast a shadow over the country’s economic prospects. Once worth hundreds of billions of dollars, Evergrande has now lost almost all its value because it is encumbered with scores of half-built properties that may never get off its balance