Evergrande, the world's most indebted property developer, is at the centre of a crisis in China's real estate sector that has seen a string of defaults since late 2021 that have rattled global markets and sparked fears of contagion.

Trading in the company's stock was suspended for 17 months until Aug. 28.

During protests by disgruntled investors at Evergrande's Shenzhen headquarters in 2021, Du Liang was identified by staff as general manager and legal representative of Evergrande's wealth management division.

"Recently, public security organs took criminal compulsory measures against Du and other suspected criminals at Evergrande Financial Wealth Management Co," police in the southern city of Shenzhen said in a social media statement on Saturday night.

Reuters could not confirm that Du was among those detained, and the police statement did not specify the number of people detained, the charges or the date they were taken into custody.

If Country Garden fails to pay the $15 million before the grace period ends in mid-October, the principal will become due immediately and any failure to service will trigger cross-default terms, said Sandra Chow, co-head of Asia-Pacific research at CreditSights.

"It's going to be really hard," for Country Garden to meet debt obligations due to its tumbling cash levels at a time when property sales in the world's second-largest economy remained very weak, Chow said.

A Country Garden spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on Monday about its latest debt repayment obligation.

Country Garden last month warned of default risks if its financial performance continues to deteriorate. It has 108.7 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) of debt due within 12 months but cash of only around 101 billion yuan as of June.

It avoided default by winning approval from its creditors to extend payments for an onshore private bond, in a major relief for the embattled Chinese developer as well as the crisis-hit property sector.

Evergrande has not responded to request for comment on the police action.

The stock fell as much as 25% to HK$0.465 in early morning trade, the lowest in two weeks. It pared losses by 0200 GMT, down 11%, lagging a 0.9% fall in the broader Hang Seng Index (.HSI).

Cash-squeezed developer Country Garden faces another dollar coupon deadline

And the good news just keeps on coming ! Embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden (2007.HK) faces yet another liquidity test with Monday's deadline to pay $15 million in interest linked to an offshore bond after having dodged default at the last minute twice earlier this month.

The country's No.1 private developer, whose financial woes have worsened the property sector outlook and prompted Beijing to unveil a raft of support measures, will have a 30-day grace period to pay the coupon before it would be considered in default.

Source | Reuters