The Guardian-Chair of Chinas Evergrande reportedly put under police surveillance
September 27, 2023 2 min 305 words
这则报道再次凸显了中国恒大的困境，该公司的主席被警方监视，又一次未能按时支付债券利息，进一步加剧了这家世界上负债最多的房地产开发商的未来命运的不确定性。恒大创始人许家印本月早些时候被带走，目前正在指定地点接受监视，但尚不清楚为何他会被进行住所监视，而不是正式拘留或被警方逮捕，也不代表他将被指控犯罪。这一事件发生在恒大旗下主要单位恒大房地产未能按时支付40亿元人民币（约合4.5亿英镑）债券的本金和利息之后，恒大表示无法发行新债券，因为该单位正在接受中国当局的调查。恒大曾是中国最大的房地产开发商之一，但在2021年被发现拖欠逾3000亿美元债务，随着政府加强对房地产行业的监管，该公司的流动性危机很快成为中国房地产行业问题的象征。今年早些时候，该公司提出了一项计划，以向投资者赔偿与其在香港上市的子公司相关的债券，包括一家电动汽车公司和一家物业管理公司。但现在，恒大已经取消了本周与债权人的会议，无法再发行与这些企业相关的新债券。该公司将在香港法院面临一项清盘申请的审理，这可能会迫使其进入清算程序。这一审理原定于7月举行，现计划于10月30日举行。此外，恒大早些时候在纽约申请了第15章破产保护，以保护其在美国的资产，希望重组其财务状况。恒大的问题已经成为全球关注的焦点，中国政府和全球金融市场都在密切关注着这家负债累累的房地产巨头的未来命运。
The chair of China’s Evergrande Group has reportedly been put under police surveillance as another missed bond payment casts further doubt over the future of the world’s most indebted property developer.
Hui Ka Yan, who founded Evergrande in 1996, was taken away earlier this month and is being monitored at a designated location, according to Bloomberg.
It is not clear why Hui might have been placed under residential surveillance, which falls short of a formal detention or police arrest and does not mean he will be charged with a crime.
Earlier this week, Hengda Real Estate, Evergrande’s primary unit in mainland China, missed principal and interest payments on a 4bn yuan (£450m) bond.
Evergrande said it was unable to sell new debt, a key part of its proposed restructuring plan, because the unit is being investigated by Chinese authorities.
The company, once China’s top property developer, was found in 2021 to be struggling with more than $300bn in liabilities, as government officials tightened scrutiny on the real estate sector. Its liquidity crisis soon made it a symbol of the country’s property sector woes.
Earlier this year it laid out a plan to compensate investors with notes linked to its listed Hong Kong subsidiaries, which include an electric vehicle company and a property management business.
Evergrande, which has cancelled meetings with creditors scheduled for this week, cannot now issue new notes against those businesses.
The company faces a court hearing in Hong Kong on a winding up petition that could force it into liquidation. The hearing, which was scheduled for July, is now due to take place on 30 October.
In August, Evergrande filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York to protect its US assets as the company hopes to restructure its finances.