The China Evergrande Group may be struggling with plunging market confidence after a leaked document claimed it was seeking a government bailout, but it is not unprecedented for mainland corporations to appeal to the authorities for financial aid.

Back in the 1990s, the government-owned investment enterprise Guangdong Holdings Ltd sought help from provincial authorities to repay its debts, and eventually avoided liquidation under the assistance of then Guangdong vice governor Wang Qishan, who is now vice president and trusted aide to President Xi Jinping.

Guangdong Holdings, established in Hong Kong in 1980, was the economic and trade representative of the provincial government in Hong Kong.

The Guangdong Holdings debacle marked the last time a mainland Chinese corporate sought major asset restructuring with government help. It was in the midst of the Asian financial crisis when the company filed a report with the provincial authorities in August 1998, requesting the use of Guangdong’s fiscal surplus to repay its debts. Wang, in his capacity as provincial vice governor, demanded the company be reorganized to cut the debts.

Now, Hong Kong-listed Evergrande, owned by China’s third-richest man Hui Ka-yan, is allegedly asking the Guangdong provincial government to back its A-share backdoor listing plan in order to save the company from “cross defaults” in its financial loans, according to a letter circulating on Chinese social media starting Thursday.

Evegrande, which was China’s leading real estate developer, said in a statement later in the day that the letter had been fabricated in an attempt to cause serious damage to the company’s reputation. The revelations in the letter triggered the fall of the company’s share price to a four-month low and its domestic corporate bond, due in 2023, to a record low since its launch in 2009.

Company chairman Hui, 61, now has an estimated wealth of US$6.2 billion, though his beginnings were humble.

The Chinese property mogul was born in a rural family in a village of Zhoukou city in the eastern Henan province. His father was a logger while his grandmother fermented vinegar to make ends meet. Hui’s mother died when he was eight months old.

Hui capitalized on the booming real estate market and, by making aggressive investments, his company Evergrande tasted initial success amid the same Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s that nearly felled Guangdong Holdings.

He became the richest man in China in 2017, despite being the country’s most indebted developer. With 290 billion yuan (US$42.5 billion) in assets, he surpassed Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and Tencent chief executive Pony Ma that year.

The 2019 Hurun Report showed Hui as the third wealthiest person in China, with 210 billion yuan in assets.

Previously known as Xu Jiayin, Hui adopted a Cantonese transliteration of his name after moving to Hong Kong in 1997.

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