BEIJING, December 13 (TMTPost)—Yang Huiyan, who was Asia’s richest woman just two years ago, embraces significant pay cuts as part of efforts to recover from liquidity crisis and eliminate more default risks of Country Garden Holdings Co., the highly indebted Chinese property developer she leads.

Credit：Visual China

The board of directors approved the agreement signed on November 1 to allow four board members of Country Garden, including Yang Huiyan, the Chairman and Executive Director, the President and Executive Director Mo Bin, Yang Ziying and Chen Chong, to make pay adjustments in the coming year after these directors proposed to cut their pays, according to a filling with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late Tuesday. Under the adjustments, Yang Huiyan and Chen Chong will take about 68% of pay cut, namely, a reduction from RMB370,000 to RMB120,000 each, and the annual compensation of  of Mo Bin and Yang Ziying will also be slashed to the same amount, down from RMB3 million and RMB2 million, respectively, representing the decline up to 96%.

Country Garden said it that it is actively taking self-rescue measures, doing its best to boost revenue and reduce expenditure, cut expenses, and pool resources to ensure delivery. The past two years witnessed several  pay adjustments to executives, ranging from the vice president of the headquarters to general managers of functional centers, resulting a decrease of 86% in their pay over the period, the company said. It added that the prive vehicle service for senior executives and their benefits such as  free physical examinations and free canteens have been terminated.Yang Huiyan was said to express her determination to support her company in a monthly management meeting last week. Yang said her family will “absolutely support” Country Garden at whatever cost just as the famous Chinese saying that selling the household essentials like the pot for money.

The latest pay adjustments came as Yang Huiyan’s wealth suffered a huge loss this year since it mainly derives from her stake in Country Garden, whose shares dived more than 70% year to date. Her fortune has shrunk to RMB48 billion in the year 2023 to the fifth place, 36% down from that of RMB75 billion last year, according to the leading women entrepreneurs in China released by Hurun Report in November. Four months earlier, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showcased Yang’s net worth stood at US$5.5 billion as of the early August, plunging by US$28.6 billion, or 84%, since its peak in June 2021.

Country Garden failed to make a US$15 million coupon payment on a bond due September 2025 when a 30-day grace period ended October 18. The company has said in October that it expects to be unable to fulfill all the offshore debt obligations as scheduled and hopes to seeks a holistic solution to address the current offshore debt risks it is facing, so as to allows it to return to track of healthy development and protect rights and interests of all stakeholders including customers, employees creditors to the greatest extent.

The same day that Country Garden announced directors’ pay cuts saw the real estate company may avert its first default on local bonds. None of holders of a RMB800 million yuan bond due on December 13 2024 applied for repurchase the security, a statement of Country Garden on Monday cited according to data from the Shenzhen Branch of China Securities Depository and Clearing Co., Ltd.

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange met last week with some holders of the note to seek such an outcome, and most holders were swayed to forgo using a put option December 13, which enables investors to demand repayment before maturity next year, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.A recent meeting with investors was held to discuss arrangements for funding the debt payment and mitigating risks, and relevant institutions worked together to develop the Credit Protection Certificate for protection of the abovementioned local bond, Chinese news media outlet The Paper cited sources on Tuesday.

Country Garden said on Wednesday that it has remitted more than RMB800 million (US$111.42 million) to fully repay the principal and interest of the note. The repayment was made for bondholders who chose to exercise the put option by November 28.

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