Asia's richest woman lost half her wealth in China's property crunch

Beijing [China], July 29 : As China's property crisis escalates, Asia's wealthiest woman has seen her wealth fall to USD 11 billion from nearly USD 24 billion this year, a media report said.
Yang Huiyan, 41, controls China's largest real estate developer Country Garden Holdings.
Yang's stake was largely transferred from her father Yang Guoqiang who founded the company in Foshan, Guangdong province in the 1990s.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Garden's stock has lost more than half its value this year as the Chinese real estate sector has struggled with falling home prices, weakening buyer demand, and a debt default crisis that has engulfed some of its largest developers since last year.
According to CNN, Yang remains the richest woman in Asia despite losing more than half her fortune.
The plunge in her net worth has narrowed the wealth gap between her and fellow female billionaires in China, making Yang only some USD 100 million away from being surpassed by Fan Hongwei in wealth, the report added.
This development comes as Evergrande defaulted on its debt last year and several other companies are seeking protection from creditors.
The developer is reeling under more than USD 300 billion of total liabilities, including about USD 19 billion in offshore bonds held by international asset managers and private banks on behalf of their clients.
The Chinese Government officials have been sent into the company to oversee a restructuring, CNN reported. However, there's little clarity about what comes next as the company appealed for more time.
This comes as the real estate crisis has escalated and thousands of disgruntled homebuyers who had made down payments for unfinished homes threatened to stop paying mortgages if construction is not completed in time.