Chinese property giant Evergrande's shares were taken off the Hong Kong stock market on Monday after more than a decade and a half of trading.

It marks a grim milestone for what was once China's biggest real estate firm, with a stock market valuation of more than $50bn (£37.1bn). That was before its spectacular collapse under the weight of the huge debts that had powered its meteoric rise.

Experts say the delisting was both inevitable and final.

"Once delisted, there is no coming back," says Dan Wang, China director at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

Evergrande is now best-known for its part in a crisis that has for years dragged on the world's second-largest economy.