BBC News Top Stories-Business Evergrande China property giant suspends shares amid reports of detained leaders
September 28, 2023 3 min 504 words
这则报道揭示了中国房地产巨头恒大公司的严重危机。公司股票在香港停牌，而且有报道称公司主席被中国政府监视。此前的报道还提到其他高管也被拘留。这次市场停牌没有明确原因，但对于这家负债累累的公司来说是又一次打击，它在2021年违约，引发了中国目前的房地产市场危机。 恒大曾被认为是全球最有价值的房地产开发商，现在却陷入了崩溃，威胁到全球第二大经济体。公司欠债逾3000亿美元，一大部分债务都欠给了中国内地的人，其中许多是普通市民，他们的住房项目未能完成。2021年，公司违约巨额债务，引发了全球金融市场的震荡，因为房地产部门占据了中国经济的大约四分之一。 中国的其他主要开发商也在过去一年违约，许多都在苦苦挣扎以筹集资金完成项目。恒大曾计划通过出售资产和股份来筹集现金，以偿还供应商和债权人。然而，最新的消息表明，恒大旗下的恒大房地产已经违约了40亿元人民币。 这一情况可能会对中国经济产生重大影响，因为政府的政策干预可能不足以改善购房者的信心，尽管近期经济指标有所改善。这对于全球经济也构成了风险。恒大的危机再次凸显了房地产泡沫的风险，以及政府如何应对这种情况将对市场产生重大影响。
Shares in crisis-hit Chinese property giant Evergrande have been suspended in Hong Kong amid reports its chairman has been placed under police surveillance.
It follows reports earlier this week that other current and former executives had also been detained.
Thursday's market statement did not give a reason for the trading halt.
But it marks another low for the heavily indebted property giant which defaulted in 2021, triggering China's current real estate market crisis.
In August, the firm filed for bankruptcy in New York, in a bid to protect its US assets as it worked on a multi-billion dollar deal with creditors.
The market trading halt now comes just a month after the firm's previous 17-month suspension was lifted.
Evergrande - once valued as the world's most valuable property developer - is at the centre of a real estate crisis threatening the world's second largest economy.
With more than $300bn (£247bn) of debt, the firm has been scrambling to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors.
Most of Evergrande's debt is owed to people within China, many of whom are ordinary citizens whose homes have not been finished.
When the firm defaulted on its huge debts in 2021, it sent shockwaves through global financial markets as the property sector contributes to roughly a quarter of China's economy.
Several other of the country's major developers have defaulted over the past year and many are struggling to find the money to complete developments.
In July, Evergrande revealed it had lost a combined 581.9bn yuan ($79.6bn; £65.6bn) over the post two years.
It has been working on a new repayment plan and the company seemed to have been moving closer to resolving the problem after it filed for US bankruptcy protection.
Its latest plan was to reissue its overseas debt as new bonds that it had to pay back in about 10 years' time, as well as offering their creditors stakes in the company as shares.
But earlier this week, Evergrande revealed its mainland unit Hengda Real Estate had defaulted on 4 billion yuan (£449m; $547m) of debt.
Chinese business wire Caixin also reported that several current and former executives has been detained.
Then on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported the firm's founder Hui Ka Yan, who is also known as Xu Jiayin, had been taken away by police this month and was being monitored at a designated location.
The BBC has been unable to independently confirm Bloomberg's reporting.
Trading in its two other units - the property services and electric vehicle - was also suspended on Thursday.
"China's property-sector stress will continue to pose cross-sector credit risks in the near term," wrote Lan Wang and Duncan Innes-Ker of Fitch Ratings.
"The government's modest policy easing to date is unlikely to drive a sharp turnaround in homebuyers' sentiment, even though it has led to some recent improvements in broader economic indicators," their report said.