Forte's Tribulation: Boss Reportedly Under "Exit Ban," Unable to Repay 150 Million Yuan in Bank Loans?

(Source: Real Estate Spy)

Known as one of the “South China Real Estate Five Tigers,” R&F Properties has recently been suddenly caught in a “storm,” causing industry insiders to worry.

According to a recent report by the “Economic Observer,” Li Silian, Chairman of Guangzhou R&F Properties, has been restricted from leaving the country. One important detail is that he was intercepted during an outbound trip around the Chinese New Year this year.

As of now, R&F’s official statement has yet to respond.

In the real estate circle, when talking about R&F’s leadership, the industry used to praise the “Twin Stars” duo—Zhang Li and Li Silian—one focusing on external affairs, the other on internal management, with clear division of responsibilities. It is said that since founding R&F, the two have never had conflicts.

At the end of 2022, co-founder Zhang Li was arrested in London for allegedly bribing U.S. personnel related to a high-end residential project in California. This put R&F, which had just emerged from a massive debt restructuring, into a new crisis. Subsequently, Zhang Li was extradited to the U.S. and only returned to China in July 2023.

In recent years, the housing market has been under continuous deep correction. For R&F, which is facing financial distress, it is struggling on the brink of life and death. Surprisingly, industry insiders did not expect R&F to be in such difficulty.

According to the latest disclosure from a property rights trading platform, nearly 150 million yuan of bad debts involving R&F Group are listed for sale, with the transferor being Huashang Bank. The specific debtors are Longmen R&F and Huizhou Fumao, subsidiaries of R&F Group, with a total principal of about 126 million yuan and interest of 22.47 million yuan.

As collateral for the bank loans, Longmen R&F has mortgaged the Hilton Hotel in Nankunshan, while Huizhou Fumao has mortgaged land and ongoing projects for the Fumao Seaside City Hotel in Dapu Town, Huidong County. It is also reported that both collateral properties failed to sell at auction after two attempts.

Recently, R&F Properties announced that by February 2026, its total sales revenue is expected to be about 750 million yuan, with a cumulative total of approximately 1.47 billion yuan in the first two months of this year. It is also reported that the company’s sales in 2025 reached 14.21 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 3.2 billion yuan compared to the total sales of 11.23 billion yuan in 2024.

Looking back at previous years, for example, R&F’s total sales were 19.95 billion yuan in 2023, 38.43 billion yuan in 2022, 120.2 billion yuan in 2021, 138.79 billion yuan in 2020, and 138.19 billion yuan in 2019.

This shows that even well-known private real estate companies that once easily surpassed 100 billion yuan in sales now can only hover around the hundreds of billions. Although debt levels have eased somewhat after restructuring, they still remain heavy.

According to R&F Properties’ external disclosures, as of the end of 2025, the company’s overdue debt principal balance under consolidated statements is 36.81 billion yuan, covering corporate bonds, bank loans, trust, and leasing financing, indicating ongoing significant liquidity pressure.

At the end of last year, R&F announced that a restructuring plan for approximately $5 billion of offshore debt had been approved by the creditors holding the statutory proportion of the debt, and legal approval was underway.

Regarding approximately 12.5 billion yuan of domestic debt, R&F stated that it has launched a package of solutions including cash buybacks, debt-for-asset swaps, and accounts receivable trusts. Notably, in November of that year, a 1.68 billion yuan corporate bond was successfully restructured.

In addition to negotiating extensions, refinancing, or debt restructuring with creditors, R&F also mentioned ongoing efforts to sell equity stakes in its project development companies to realize cash.

R&F is making every effort to address its massive debt and cash flow issues, actively seeking solutions to persuade auditors to issue a disclaimer of opinion on its annual financial statements, thus avoiding the embarrassment of liquidation or delisting.

It is worth noting that, besides Huashang Bank, other major banks seem to be losing patience.

Recently, a non-performing loan of about 930 million yuan from Shanghai Zhonghong Real Estate Development Co., a subsidiary of R&F, was publicly listed for transfer by Beijing Bank’s Shanghai branch. The collateral is the “Shanghai R&F Global Center” commercial complex located in Shanghai Hongqiao CBD.

Unlike many other H-share distressed real estate companies that have been delisted, R&F, despite its difficulties and large debt scale, still benefits from its main projects being concentrated in first-tier and core second-tier cities, making it more resilient and giving it more time to turn around.