Asia’s Richest Woman Loses Half Her Wealth in China Property Crisis

• Sommana Yan
• 28 July 2022
• International News
• 2648 Views

Asia’s wealthiest woman lost more than half her fortune over the past year as China’s real estate sector was rocked by a cash crunch, a billionaire index showed on Thursday 28 July.

Yang Huiyan is a Chinese-born billionaire businesswoman and property developer. She is the majority shareholder of Country Garden Holdings, a stake largely transferred to her by her father Yang Guoqiang in 2007. She is the richest woman in Asia.

Yang Huiyan, a majority shareholder in Chinese property giant Country Garden, saw her net worth plunge by more than 52% to US$11.3 billion from US$23.7 billion a year ago, according to CNA on 28 July 2022.

She became Asia’s richest woman two years later after the developer’s initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Yang’s fortune took a major hit on Wednesday when the Guangdong-based Country Garden’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 15% after the company announced it would sell new shares to raise cash.

While Country Garden has remained relatively unscathed by industry turmoil, it spooked investors with a Wednesday announcement that it planned to raise more than US$343 million through a share sale, partly to pay debts.

• Business and Market