A video of a woman brandishing a knife and confronting Evergrande staff apparently demanding repayment of her investment monies has been circulated widely on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

The video is part of a compilation of several clips showing the antics of desperate Chinese investors responding to Evergrande's financial woes.

The 10-minute video was put up on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, on Sept. 29 by local news site Xing Tai Shen Bian Shi.

Business Insider reported that the video was uploaded without specifying the dates and locations of the various incidents, but there is sufficient reason to believe they are relatively recent events.

Woman with knife

A female investor is seen in the first clip picking up a knife and threatening to kill herself in the meeting room in front of staff supposedly from Evergrande Wealth, as well as other people believed to also be investors.

There were about 50 people present, based on an estimate of the number of people who appeared in the clip.

The woman told staff: “I don’t want the interest on my investment, I just want my money back. So here’s what I have to say to you. If Evergrande Wealth doesn’t give me my money today, I’ll kill myself right here.”

“If this isn’t handled today, I’ll die right here, right in front of you. My retirement savings are all in that investment. I have nothing left to live for.”

A close observation of the clip revealed that the people in the video barely flinched when the woman made her threat.

Some even appeared nonplussed.

Other clips

Another clip showed a group of people attempting to block a car outside a building.

A woman can be heard crying and demanding an explanation.

“I don’t have any choice but to do this, and I won’t listen to you,” she said.

“All my money is gone.”

Reuters reported that since Sep. 13, investors have been protesting outside Evergrande with the police stepping in to maintain order.

Around 100 people had gathered outside the Evergrande building at one point, prompting the guards to form a human barricade to prevent them from getting inside.

Protesters were subsequently allowed into the building as a way to get them away from public view.

Background

China Evergrande Group has accumulated more than US$300 billion of liabilities from years of borrowing.

It has become the world’s most indebted company.

Its financial woes have spilled over to the company’s wealth management arm, Evergrande Wealth.

Top photo via Weibo