By David Kirton

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – Guo Hui, whose cleaning business is owed 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) by embattled real estate giant China Evergrande, is counting on the government to fix a crisis that has left his own company on the brink of bankruptcy.

His 50 year-old friend and colleague, “Brother Hui”, have sold their Porsche Cayenne and placed his apartment on the marketplace in an effort to get cash to repay his debts.

Guo spoke from his office, which is located in the Tianhe district of Guangzhou. It’s a lively street with many small shops and restaurants.

China Evergrande, located in Shenzhen nearby, has left many suppliers on the hook. It was once the top-selling country property developer, but it ran out of cash in the summer of 2013 due to $305 billion of debt.

Guo is originally from Sichuan and started Feiyun his cleaning business more than twenty years ago.

Guo views his story as one of the many rags to riches stories of self-made entrepreneurs his age. This was in tandem with China’s economic growth.

Evergrande was 90% of Guo’s business. He began to have problems with June 2017 when payments for the company’s commercial paper stopped.

China Evergrande didn’t immediately reply to Guo’s request for comment.

He stated that “we’re in a very passive state.”

Feiyun offers cleaning and repairs services to Evergrande apartments located in Guangdong. This ensures new constructions are spotless before it is shown off to buyers.

Guo explained that it employs approximately 100 staff members and 700 to 800 contractors depending on the demand. The majority of its workers are migrants from poorer areas.

He said that Evergrande owes its money in part to the hard work of ordinary migrants.

Guo had 300 workers cleaning apartments at Zhanjiang Evergrande Waitan Gardens in the southwest tip, which was worth 1.5 million yuan.

They worked tirelessly for us. While I try to make them pay out of loans I took out, only a third and fourth can do it. Hui said that they still owe them approximately 2 million Yuan. This refers to arrears for staff on three projects.

Maotai bottles lined Guo’s shelves. The single photograph on his desk shows him ski-ing in north China in 2017 “before things got difficult”.

Guo Jing was an outdoor enthusiast and planned to give his business over eventually to his son Guo Jing. Guo listened to him as his plan to take his family abroad.

Beijing is largely silent on Evergrande, which rattled the global markets, and has left hundreds of thousands of buyers of unfinished apartment units in uncertainty. This has triggered protests at Evergrande offices.

Guo stated that “We cannot wait for Evergrande or the government to solve this problem.” “No matter what happens, the government is still my belief. “This must have led to an end.”

Guo took his car to Porsche to return the symbol of all his hard work. After the paperwork were signed, Guo asked for a second chance to ride in it.

At the dealership, he stated that this is how the Evergrande scenario has turned out. He also said that he couldn’t wait for the government or courts to intervene.

Guo, who has already come out of poverty once before, is optimistic that his fortunes will change.

Guo said, “I will definitely purchase my car back when I earn some money.” It’s certain that I will be able get it back.

($1 = 6.4662 renminbi)