Chinese property developer Sunac became the latest company in the sector to default, as strict lockdown measures to combat the country’s Covid-19 outbreak exacerbate a liquidity crisis across the real estate sector.
The company said in a statement to the Hong Kong exchange on Thursday that it had failed to make payments on one bond ahead of a deadline this week. It said there was “no assurance” it would be able to make others worth over $70mn before grace periods expire this month.
The missed payments from Sunac came as part of a wider cash crunch across China’s property sector, which first emerged last year and has weighed on the country’s wider economy. The highly leveraged industry is subject to intense scrutiny in international bond markets, where borrowing costs have soared, making it difficult for developers to fund their projects.