This is the end of China's once mightiest property firm

The moment passed without fanfare. China Evergrande, a real estate developer that once represented the pinnacle of China's economic prowess, was formally removed from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday.

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Evergrande, which made its financial debut in Hong Kong 16 years ago, had once been the fastest growing property developer in a country brimming with promise of profits for investors. It will be remembered as one of the world’s most indebted companies whose collapse brought China's financial system to the brink.

The company tested Beijing's longtime “too big to fail” policy towards its biggest companies. It shattered its tolerance of unchecked borrowing by giant corporations. And Evergrande’s collapse in 2021, under more than $300 billion of debt, exposed the vulnerabilities of China's economy and its dependence on real estate as a driver of growth.

Now what's left is the carcass of a corporate behemoth — 1,300 not-yet-finished real estate projects in more than 280 cities and hundreds of thousands of homebuyers still waiting for their apartments. Then there’s the long line of creditors, from businesses in China that worked for Evergrande to investors in London and New York who bet on it, still waiting to be repaid.