Chinese property giant Evergrande files for bankruptcy

Evergrande, the heavily indebted Chinese property group and once the country's second developer, on Thursday filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York – indicating the ongoing real estate crisis in China is far from over.

The Guangzhou-based group, which is thought to hold over $300bn in debt, defaulted on its repayments back in 2021, prompting a string of defaults at other building companies.

Chapter 15 bankruptcy will allow Evergrande to protest its assets in the US as it works to restructure its debt and renegotiate with its creditors.

Evergrande's shares have been suspended from trading in Hong Kong since early last year.

A number of large Chinese property developers have hit the headlines in recent days after missing bond repayments and having to restructure their debt, raising concerns about contagion to the wider financial services sector.

Evergrande published long-overdue earnings results in July that showed it has lost $81.1bn over the past two years combined, as revenues more than halved.

Earlier this week, sector peer Country Garden told investors it could register a loss of $7.6bn in the first half of 2023, and said it had suspended trading of 11 onshore bonds.