Hui Ka Yan (, or Xu Jiayin in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

), born 9 October 1958, is a Chinese

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busi ...

businessman,

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and

Communist Party secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

of the

Evergrande Group The China Evergrande Group is the second largest property developer in China by sales. It is ranked 122nd on the ''Fortune'' Global 500. It is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, and headquartered in the Houhai ...

, a Chinese real estate developer. Hui is the largest shareholder of China Evergrande Group, holding nearly 60 per cent of stock as of December 2021. In 2017, Evergrande Real Estate Group achieved sales of RMB 450 billion (US $69.5 billion). The Guangzhou-based company was China's biggest property developer in 2016, based on sales volume; revenue was 211.4 billion yuan (US$31.8 billion). As of December 2021, Xu has an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion, making him the 462nd wealthiest person in the world, according to ''

Bloomberg Billionaires Index The ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', launched in March 2012, is a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people based on their net worth. It draws information from "action in the stock market, economic indicators and news reports", features a p ...

'', down from a peak of $45.3 billion in 2017.

Early life and education

Xu Jiayin was born from a rural family in Jutaigang Village, Gaoxian Township,

Taikang County Taikang County (), formerly known as Yangjia County or Yangxia County, is a county in the north of Zhoukou prefecture-level city, in the east of Henan province, China. It is divided into 23 townships and 766 villages. The county is home to 1.43 mil ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

, on October 9, 1958. His father is a retired soldier who participated in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. After the establishment of the communist State he became a warehouseman in his home village. Xu's mother died of

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

when he was 8 months old. He was raised by his paternal grandmother. After high school he worked in a cement product factory for a few days and then worked for two years at home. He was the production team leader. After resuming the college entrance examination in 1978, Xu was accepted to Wuhan Institute of Iron and Steel (now

Wuhan University of Science and Technology The Wuhan University of Science and Technology (WUST) is a public, comprehensive, research university located in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China. It is a key university established and managed by Hubei province and by the Chinese ...

) serving as commissary in charge of hygiene in his class.

Career

As a fresh graduate in 1982, Xu was assigned to the heat-treatment shop of Wuyang Iron and Steel Company (), becoming its associate director in 1983 and director in 1985. Xu served as director for seven years there. After resigning in 1992, he moved to

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

, the newly founded

special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

southeast China The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province. He was accepted by a trading company named "Zhongda" (). One year later he became president of its branch office named "Quanda" (). On October 1, 1994, Xu moved to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, capital of Guangdong province, to establish the Guangzhou Pengda Industrial Co., Ltd. (). In May 1996, Xu Jiayin, with a monthly salary of 2000 yuan, left Zhongda Group after unsuccessful negotiation with the boss of this society. In March 1997 he founded the

, becoming its chairman. Xu is the owner of Guangzhou Evergrande football club, one of China’s most successful football clubs. in 2019, Xu announced a three-year investment in electric cars worth approximately $6.4 billion. At its peak of 2017, his fortune is thought to have been $45.3 billion, putting him third on

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

' 2020 list of Richest Chinese Billionaires. However, from 2017 to 2020 his wealth was estimated to have dropped by more than $20 billion to $21.8 billion due to mounting debts, which were exacerbated by the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

pandemic. The Hurun China Rich List of October 2021 still estimated his personal fortune to be around $11.3 billion in autumn 2021. However, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index his net worth had dropped to $6.2 billion by 13 December 2021, having lost $17.2 billion on the year, due partly to the sale of personal assets in the context of the

Evergrande liquidity crisis The China Evergrande Group is the second largest property developer in China by sales. It is ranked 122nd on the ''Fortune'' Global 500. It is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, and headquartered in the Houhai ...

, including his US$227-million mansion in London.Why a Chinese billionaire is selling the most expensive home in the UK
SCMP, 12 October, 2022

Personal life

Hui married Ding Yumei (), whom he met in Wuyang Iron and Steel Company (). The couple have two children and live in Guangzhou.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hui, Ka Yan 1958 births Living people Businesspeople from Henan Chinese billionaires People from Taikang County Wuhan University of Science and Technology alumni Chinese real estate businesspeople Chinese football chairmen and investors Chinese company founders Real estate company founders Members of the Standing Committee of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the Standing Committee of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the Standing Committee of the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference