The Guardian-Evergrande halts share trading as woes mount for China property giant
September 28, 2023 2 min 424 words
这篇报道再次突显了中国房地产巨头恶化的境况。中国地产巨头恒大在仅一个月后再次停止了在香港股票交易所的股票交易，而此前曾因未发布财务结果而被暂停交易长达17个月。此次停牌还包括其旗下两个单位——物业服务和电动车集团。而在此之前，有关恒大董事长被警方监视的报道也令人担忧，恒大的创始人辉格被带走并在指定地点接受监视。至于为何辉格会被实施住所监视尚不清楚，这并不等同于正式拘留或警方逮捕，也不一定会伴随着刑事指控。 恒大的问题似乎不断加剧，此前曾有员工因不明指控在深圳被拘留，两名前高管也曾因13.4亿英镑的存款被用作第三方贷款的担保而被拘留。此外，恒大旗下的恒大地产主要单位早本周未能偿还40亿元人民币的债券本金和利息。恒大董事长辉格在2021年辞去了恒大董事长职务。 这一系列事件彰显了中国房地产业所积累的庞大债务对中国金融体系和整体经济健康构成的不可接受风险。自2020年以来，中国政府逐渐收紧了开发商的信贷渠道，随之而来的是一波波的违约事件，尤其是恒大的违约。另一家中国地产巨头碧桂园在近几个月险些违约，此前报告显示其创下创纪录的亏损和逾1500亿美元的债务。中国房地产业曾是经济增长的重要支柱之一，占GDP约四分之一，但近几十年来巨头们积累的巨额债务已经成为政府眼中不容忽视的风险因素。
Embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande has suspended share trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange only a month after it resumed trading after a 17-month suspension.
Trading in its two other units – the property services and electric vehicle groups – also stopped at 9am on Thursday, according to notices posted by the stock exchange.
The halt in trading comes a day after reports that the chair of Evergrande had been put under police surveillance. 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 a criminal charge follows.
Evergrande had only resumed trading on 28 August after the company was suspended for 17 months for not publishing its financial results. Earlier this month, several employees of Evergrande’s wealth management unit were arrested in Shenzhen on unspecified charges.
Two former executives were also reportedly detained recently. Pan Darong and Xia Haijun had resigned last year after it emerged that 13.4bn yuan (£1.5bn) of deposits had been used as security for third-party loans.
Earlier this week, Hengda Real Estate, Evergrande’s primary unit in mainland China, missed principal and interest payments on a 4bn yuan bond. Hui resigned from his position as Hengda chair in 2021.
On Sunday, Evergrande said it was unable to issue new debt as Hengda was being investigated.
And on Friday it said meetings planned this week on a key debt restructuring plan would not take place, adding it was “necessary to reassess the terms” of the plan in order to suit the “objective situation and the demand of the creditors”.
China’s property sector is a key pillar of growth – along with construction, it accounts for about a quarter of GDP – and has experienced a dazzling boom in recent decades.
The massive debt accrued by the industry’s biggest players has, however, been seen by Beijing in recent years as an unacceptable risk for the financial system and overall economic health.
Authorities have gradually tightened developers’ access to credit since 2020 and a wave of defaults has followed – notably that of Evergrande.
Another Chinese property giant, Country Garden, narrowly avoided default in recent months, after reporting a record loss and debts of more than $150bn.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report