Bloomberg reported on October 17 that in downtown Vancouver, just minutes away from the financial district and art galleries, there is an oval blue glass building – One Wall Centre.
This complex contains the Sheraton Hotel and luxury condominiums, including an apartment on the 47th floor with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer views of the Pacific Coast mountains and Vancouver Harbor.
This apartment is owned by Xu Jiayin’s ex-wife Ding Yumei and his son Xu Zhijian.
The Vancouver apartment is just one of Ding’s many global properties, which span from Canada to the United Kingdom and include one of the most expensive mansions in London, according to court documents and real estate searches by Bloomberg News.
As liquidators in Hong Kong scour the world for assets linked to Evergrande Group, Ding’s properties are at risk of being seized or sold to repay creditors.
In July this year, courts in Hong Kong and London issued global asset freezing orders against Xu Jiayin, Ding Yumei and former Evergrande executives to recover US$6 billion.
“This could set the stage for other future actions by liquidators to recover assets and benefit creditors,” said Daniel Margulis, a cross-border restructuring and insolvency expert at Dechert LLP in Hong Kong.
In recent years, Ding Yumei has become the focus of creditors and social media.
In August 2023, a document from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed Ding Yumei as a “third-party independent person” instead of a “spouse”, implying that she and Xu Jiayin had divorced after more than 30 years of marriage.
Evergrande’s dividend payments of more than $7 billion supported the global shopping and luxury lifestyle of Hui and his wife, who once owned three mansions overlooking Hong Kong and a superyacht.
Last year, Xu Jiayin was taken away by the CCP police and subjected to “coercive measures” on suspicion of illegal crimes.
British court documents show that Ding Yumei now lives in a luxury apartment in Thames City, London, and has a deposit of approximately US$4 million in Barclays Bank.
While the liquidators were trying to recover approximately US$360 million in dividends, the British court’s latest ruling in September this year allowed Ding Yumei to withdraw up to 20,000 pounds (approximately US$26,000, 186,000 yuan) per month as living expenses.
Since the Evergrande crisis broke out, Ding Yumei has kept a low profile and has not appeared in public. Little is known about her background. It was not until 2018 that her photo appeared for the first time in an article published on the Evergrande website about the couple’s return to Xu Jiayin’s hometown in Henan.
According to Chinese media reports, Ding Yumei met Xu Jiayin when he was sent to work at a state-owned steel company after graduating from university, and they married in 1983.
Ding Yumei holds a Canadian passport. She and her son Xu Zhijian bought this Vancouver apartment in 2004. At that time, Evergrande began to capitalize on China’s real estate boom, and Xu Jiayin eventually became the second richest man in Asia.
Evergrande’s rise has also benefited Ding Yumei, who holds nearly 6% of the company, according to filings last year.
According to documents from the British Columbia Land Titles and Survey Bureau, Ding Yumei and Xu Zhijian are still listed as the registered owners of the One Wall Center property, and they paid $1 million at the time.
The two-bedroom apartment is currently worth about $2 million, according to BC Assessment.
Documents show that 67-year-old Ding Yumei was listed as a “housewife” at the time, while Xu Zhijian was a student.
According to Evergrande documents, Xu Zhijian holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of British Columbia.
It is likely that Ding Yumei has since added to her Vancouver properties. After Evergrande defaulted on its U.S. dollar bonds and Chinese authorities urged Xu Jiayin to use her personal wealth to repay the debt, she bought a house for C$2.15 million in November 2022 and another C$12 million in February 2023, according to land registration documents. Another one was purchased and the registered owner of both properties is Ding Yumei.
The $12 million house is located in Saunas, one of Vancouver’s most expensive luxury neighborhoods. Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou also lived in the area during her time in Canada.
According to promotional materials, the house was built in 2019 and has 8 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, with a total area of about 622 square meters and a floor-to-ceiling wine cellar and home theater; while another building in the South Lands district The house has 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.
Bloomberg reported that when they visited the properties in Vancouver in August, no one was found at home.
In addition to these assets in Vancouver, Ding Yumei purchased a luxury home at 2-8a Rutland Gate, London, for 210 million pounds in January 2020.
The mansion is now on a frozen asset list, according to court documents in the UK and Hong Kong. The mansion has been on the market since late 2022 but has been unable to find a buyer.
Last year it was almost sold for about £200 million, about £25 million less than the asking price, but the deal ultimately failed.
According to people familiar with the matter, the current offer is about 40% lower than the asking price.
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