Sun Hongbin - from prison inmate to white knight

Hong Kong

TWO decades ago, Sun Hongbin was in prison and fighting to overturn a conviction on charges he'd embezzled company funds. Today, the chairman and CEO of Sunac China Holdings Ltd, the Tianjin-based property developer he founded in 2003, is one of the country's wealthiest business executives. He's also rescuing cash-strapped Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd, which was at risk of becoming the first Chinese real estate company to default on its dollar-denominated bonds.

In recent months, Kaisa's financial squeeze has been followed closely by global bond investors. Chinese companies raised US$244 billion in US currency note sales last year and according to recent filings, Kaisa's creditors have included BlackRock Inc, the world's biggest asset manager.