HONG KONG: The boss of a Shanghai-based real estate developer lost more than $ 1 billion on Monday, as concerns over the potential collapse of Chinese real estate giant Evergrande caused panic in trading floors from Hong Kong.

Zhang Yuanlin, chairman of Sinic Holdings Group, saw his net worth plummet from $ 1.3 billion on Monday morning to $ 250.7 million in the afternoon, according to Forbes, when his company was forced to suspend its operations. activities in Hong Kong following an 87% drop in its share price. .

Zhang was on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people billionaires this year and made his fortune in high-rise apartments – now highly vulnerable as the possible collapse of crumbling real estate giant China Evergrande sparks the panic.

Sinic experienced a sudden sell-off and massive increase in trading volume in her shares in the hours leading up to her suspension, just weeks before she was due to pay a $ 246 million 9.5% bond due on the 18th. October, according to Bloomberg.

A spokesperson for Sinic did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

The company is one of many people seeing fortunes erased by investor fears that Evergrande – one of China’s biggest developers – will default on upcoming interest payments this week as it is drowning in debt of over $ 300 billion.

With the real estate sector estimated at more than a quarter of China’s GDP, there are fears of an overflow into the national and global economy.

The crisis has even sparked rare protests outside company offices by investors and vendors demanding their money – some of whom claim they are owed up to $ 1 million.