(Yicai Global) Nov. 29 -- China Evergrande Group has sold land in Shenzhen that the cash-strapped property giant was intending to use for a planned super headquarters to China Industrial International Trust for CNY7.5 billion (USD1 billion).

Located in the Shenzhen Bay area of the city’s Nanshan district, the rights to the commercial plot were transferred to Shenzhen Anhe No. 1 Property Development, a unit of China Industrial International Trust, data from Shenzhen’s public resources trading center showed yesterday

Evergrande moved its HQ to Shenzhen from Guangzhou in August 2017 and secured the land for CNY5.6 billion in the December, paying almost a CNY2 billion premium. Building work, scheduled to finish in 2024, was halted in September last year.

The over 10,300-square-meter plot of land, usable until 2047, entails risks, including overdue project completion and the possibility of the local government reclaiming it without compensation. Moreover, there are arrears issues and claims from the other contractual party for recompense. 

Evergrande stopped paying rent on its Shenzhen HQ in January, but denied relocating back to Guangzhou, the city where it was founded a quarter of a century ago. The company was still registered in Shenzhen, and staff were working at its offices in both cities, an insider told Yicai Global at the time.

Besides Shenzhen, many other Chinese cities have reclaimed land use rights from Evergrande. Zhengzhou, Jiaozuo, Haikou, Chengdu, Qingdao, and Taiyuan retrieved plots because they had not been used in a long time or the start of project construction work was overdue.

Evergrande also put up for sale its head office building in Hong Kong, but it is unclear whether that has been sold.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Martin Kadiev