The official ordered Xu Jiayin to pay 1.2 million yuan in litigation fees by February 20, otherwise, the right to defense will be revoked

The delisted China Evergrande was earlier ordered into liquidation, and the group's founder Xu Jiayin has not complied with the court order to disclose assets, with the liquidator set to take over his properties in 2025. The liquidator previously indicated that Xu Jiayin had not paid approximately HKD 1.2 million in legal fees related to the lawsuit. The court issued a ruling yesterday (3rd), stating that Xu Jiayin intentionally decided not to comply with the legal fee order and required him to pay the relevant legal fees by the 20th of this month, or he would lose his right to defend himself in the case.

The ruling mentioned that Xu Jiayin's side explained that he is currently detained in mainland China, and all his communications are under strict scrutiny, allowing him only to provide general instructions. He has a legal fee deposit of HKD 20 million with his former law firm BAKER & MCKENZIE, and his current law firm JC LLP is attempting to access those funds.

However, the judge believes that Xu Jiayin appointed his current lawyer JC LLP and also appointed senior barrister Barrie Barlow to oppose the group's takeover summons, and there is no evidence that the lawyers are representing Xu Jiayin for free. If he is able to use undisclosed funds to pay his legal team, there is no reason he cannot use the same funds to pay the assessed legal fees.

The judge emphasized that Xu Jiayin has repeatedly willfully disobeyed court orders, and the severe consequence of this disobedience is that Xu Jiayin must immediately bear full responsibility for approximately RMB 43.318 billion