A court in Hong Kong has ordered the liquidation of property developer Evergrande Group, which is said to owe more than 300 billion dollars to creditors.

The company is expected to prepare for the sale of its assets in Hong Kong under court-appointed administrators.

The Hong Kong High Court in early December postponed its decision on liquidation, saying it needed more time to study Evergrande's debt-restructuring plan.

It's unclear whether the company's assets in mainland China will also be sold.

One expert says Beijing will need to separately agree to liquidation, before the process can get started in China.

Osaka University of Economics Professor Fukumoto Tomoyuki said, "The Chinese court's approval is needed to determine to what extent Hong Kong administrators have jurisdiction in mainland China." He added, "I do not think overseas creditors will be given priority in some cases, and local buyers will not get their homes."

Monday's verdict underscores the difficult state of China's property market. Recent figures show the housing price index for December fell from the previous month in 62 out of 70 major cities.

Investment in real estate development last year was down 9.6 percent compared to 2022, marking the second straight year of decline.

Last October, an international committee declared the country's largest real estate developer Country Garden had defaulted on some of its debt.