Former Greentown China head charged for taking bribes over stake in real estate project

Hong Kong’s corruption watchdog has charged the former head of a listed company for allegedly accepting HK$20 million (US$2.5 million) in bribes from a mainland Chinese property developer in exchange for acquiring a stake in the developer’s real estate project.

Zhang Yadong, 58, who was chairman of Greentown China Holdings from 2019 to 2025, faced a count of conspiracy to accept advantages, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Friday.

The case was mentioned at Eastern Court on Friday.

Prosecutors alleged that between January 2020 and March 2023, Zhang conspired with his son, a middleman, a shareholder of an estate developer in Dailian, Liaoning province, and others to accept bribes totalling HK$20 million from the shareholder in exchange for Greentown China acquiring equity interests in the developer’s project.

An ICAC investigation revealed that the shareholder had been pitching a Dalian real estate project to Greentown China since 2019.

Zhang allegedly solicited bribes from the shareholder through the middleman to facilitate Greentown China’s acquisition of the project for 440 million yuan (US$65.6 million).

“The bribes were suspected to have been deposited into the bank account of the defendant’s son in multiple payments through the middleman,” the watchdog said.