Yang Huiyan: Considered one of China’s richest ladies takes over Nation Backyard for her father Lalrp

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Hong Kong

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Considered one of China’s richest ladies has absolutely taken over Nation Backyard, a high actual property developer, after her father resigned, which added to a string of distinguished entrepreneurs retreating from their posts throughout a historic downturn within the property market.

Yang Huiyan succeeded her father Yang Guoqiang as chairman of the corporate that he based, in response to a Wednesday filing to the Hong Kong inventory change, which mentioned the appointment took impact the identical day.

Yang, 68, also referred to as Yeung Kwok Keung in Cantonese, had tendered his resignation from the place of chairman “attributable to age,” the assertion mentioned.

Yang Guoqiang, founder of Country Garden, attends a signing ceremony in November 2017 in Guangdong province.

The elder Yang was a farmer and building employee earlier than he based Nation Backyard in 1992. In little greater than a decade, he grew the agency into one of many largest actual property builders within the nation.

The corporate boasted a record-setting $1.7 billion IPO in Hong Kong in 2007. Final yr, Nation Backyard was China’s No 1 developer by gross sales, which reached $67 billion.

The youthful Yang has served as a co-chairman of the corporate since 2018 and collectively managed the day-to-day operations together with her father.

Yang Huiyan, center, attends an alumni event in the city of Foshan in Guangdong province in June 2016.

Yang, 41, had a web price of $9.2 billion as of Thursday, in response to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That positioned her as China’s second richest lady, behind solely Wu Yajun, the 59-year-old founding father of Longfor Properties, who has a fortune of $9.7 billion.

Yang Huiyan’s wealth comes primarily from her majority stake in Nation Backyard, which was largely transferred to her by her father in 2005, two years earlier than the corporate’s IPO.

Yang’s father resigned at a time when China’s property market is mired in a historic downturn.

The true property sector has been lurching from one disaster to a different since 2020, when Beijing began cracking down on extreme borrowing by builders to rein of their excessive debt. A debt disaster hit the trade after Evergrande, the second largest property developer in China, suffered a extreme money crunch and defaulted on its debt in late 2021.

Since then, plenty of cash-strapped builders have sought safety from collectors.

Nation Backyard’s inventory value has misplaced greater than half of its worth up to now yr.

An aerial view of a residential project developed by Country Garden in Zhenjiang city in eastern China's Jiangsu province in October 2021.

House gross sales have plummeted alongside purchaser confidence. Sentiment cooled even additional final yr after hundreds of residence consumers refused to proceed paying mortgages on unfinished properties. The crash in the true property market has dealt a blow to the funds of native governments, which rely closely on land gross sales income.

Authorities have shifted coverage to rescue the trade, together with easing restrictions on borrowing for builders and rolling out loans. However the restoration appears to be sluggish.

Yang Guoqiang’s resignation is the most recent in a string of exits by distinguished property entrepreneurs.

In November, Zhang Lei, founder and chairman of Trendy Land, resigned from his positions on the firm. Trendy Land is a significant developer based mostly in Beijing constructing energy-saving properties all through the nation.

In October, Wu Yajun, founder and chairwoman of Longfor Properties, stepped down attributable to well being and age causes, the corporate mentioned.

In September, Pan Shiyi and his spouse Zhang Xin give up their roles as chairman and CEO of Soho China, a Beijing-based developer.