With 41% of China's $45 trillion in banking assets and 27% of its $30 trillion in loans exposed to the property market, authorities are likely to initiate an orderly distribution of distressed assets of real estate developers such as Evergrande that failed to meet the “three red lines” limit on debt liabilities. Leveraged expansion sabotaged Evergrande’s sustainability while profit from property development shrunk for three consecutive years.

Evergrande's long-time auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has been implicated for issuing unqualified audit reports despite the beleaguered property developer’s significant financial irregularities. This has led to intense scrutiny and potential regulatory and legal actions that could threaten its long-term survival, and reshape the audit landscape in China.