Who is Yang Huiyan? Asia’s Richest Woman Loses Half Her Fortune, Here’s How

A Chinese woman, who became Asia’s wealthiest woman decades back, has lost half of her fortune. Yang Huiyan lost more than 52% of her assets since last year. The massive plunge in her wealth came due to the financial crisis in China’s real estate sector.

Huiyan’s wealth fell to $11 billion from nearly $24 billion. She holds a massive stake in China’s biggest property developer Country Garden, which is facing a crisis since last year.

Country Garden Lost 50% of Its value

Country Garden, which was founded by Huiyan’s father Yang Guoqiang in 1992, has lost nearly 50% of its value since last year. Although, Yang has lost a large part of her wealth but she is still Asia’s richest woman.

Country Garden is also facing growing liquidity stress. On Wednesday, the developer announced it would sell stocks at a nearly 13% discount to raise HK$2.83 billion ($361 million), compared to its Tuesday’s closing price. Some of the proceeds will be used to repay the company’s offshore debt, according to CNN.

China’s real estate sector is facing a worsening crisis

For the past year, China’s real estate sector is facing a worsening crisis. Builders are trapped in the new regulations and thousands of new homebuyers are warned to not pay mortgages if their homes are not constructed at the appropriate time.

Yang became the richest woman in Asia in 2007 after inheriting wealth from her father Yang Guoqiang, who transferred his shares to his daughter in 2005.

The initial public offering of Country Garden helped her to become wealthier.

Currently, it’s challenging for Yang to be the richest woman in Asia as chemical fibers tycoon Fan Hongwei is second on the list with a net worth of $11.2bn on Thursday.

Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive debt in the property sector in 2020, leaving major players such as Evergrande and Sunac struggling to make payments and forcing them to renegotiate with creditors as they teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, according to The Guardian.

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