BBC News Top Stories-Business Evergrande Why should I care if China property giant collapses
September 28, 2023 3 min 619 words
这篇报道关于中国房地产巨头恒大的危机引发了一系列值得关注的问题。首先，恒大的债务危机已经导致其股价暴跌，这对于早在建设工程开始前购买恒大房产的人们来说可能带来巨大的损失，因为他们已经支付了订金。此外，与恒大有业务往来的公司，包括建筑和设计公司以及材料供应商，也可能面临重大亏损，甚至可能陷入破产。 其次，恒大的崩溃可能对中国的金融体系产生潜在影响。如果恒大违约，银行和其他借款人可能会被迫减少贷款，这可能导致信贷紧缩，即公司难以以可负担的利率借款。对于世界第二大经济体来说，信贷紧缩将是非常不利的消息，因为无法借款的公司难以增长，有些甚至可能无法继续运营。这也可能使外国投资者感到不安，他们可能认为中国不再是一个吸引人的投资地点。 最后，有些分析师认为，由于这家负债累累的公司崩溃可能带来的严重后果，北京政府可能会采取行动。然而，另一些人则不确定。对于北京政府来说，救助恒大可能会被视为不好的示范，因为他们正在努力控制企业债务。这个问题引发了一个重要的问题，即在中国，是否还有“不可失败”的大型企业？ 总的来说，恒大的危机不仅关乎个人投资者和与之合作的公司，还关乎中国金融系统和全球经济。这个故事值得密切关注，因为它可能对未来产生深远的影响。
A crisis at the world's most indebted company has worsened after reports that its chairman has been placed under police surveillance.
It follows earlier reports that other current and former executives at Chinese property giant Evergrande had also been detained.
Evergrande suspended the trading of its shares in Hong Kong on Thursday.
It marks another low for the firm which was declared to be in default in 2021after missing a crucial repayment deadline, triggering China's current real estate market crisis.
Businessman Hui Ka Yan founded Evergrande, formerly known as the Hengda Group, in 1996 in Guangzhou, southern China.
Evergrande Real Estate currently owns more than 1,300 projects in more than 280 cities across China.
The broader Evergrande Group now encompasses far more than just real estate development.
Its businesses range from wealth management to making electric cars and food and drink manufacturing. It even owns one of the country's biggest football teams, Guangzhou FC.
Mr Hui was once Asia's richest person worth an estimated $36.2bn in 2019, according to Forbes. But his wealth has plummeted since then, with his personal fortune now standing at $3.2bn(£2.6bn).
Evergrande expanded aggressively to become one of China's biggest companies by borrowing more than $300bn.
In 2020, Beijing brought in new rules to control the amount owed by big real estate developers.
The new measures led Evergrande to offer its properties at major discounts to ensure money was coming in to keep the business afloat.
Now it is struggling to meet the interest payments on its debts.
This uncertainty has seen Evergrande's shares lose more than 99% of their value in the past three years.
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.
There are several reasons why Evergrande's problems are serious.
Firstly, many people bought property from Evergrande even before building work began. They have paid deposits and could potentially lose that money if it goes bust.
There are also the companies that do business with Evergrande. Firms including construction and design firms and materials suppliers are at risk of incurring major losses, which could force them into bankruptcy.
The third is the potential impact on China's financial system: If Evergrande defaults, banks and other lenders may be forced to lend less.
This could lead to what is known as a credit crunch, when companies struggle to borrow money at affordable rates.
A credit crunch would be very bad news for the world's second largest economy, because companies that can't borrow find it difficult to grow, and in some cases are unable to continue operating.
This may also unnerve foreign investors, who could see China as a less attractive place to put their money.
The very serious potential fallout of such a heavily indebted company collapsing has led some analysts to suggest that Beijing may step in.
The Economist Intelligence Unit's Mattie Bekink thinks so: "Rather than risk disrupting supply chains and enraging homeowners, we think the government will probably find a way to ensure Evergrande's core business survives."
Others though are not sure.
In a post on China's chat app and social media platform WeChat, the influential editor-in-chief of state-backed Global Times newspaper Hu Xijin said Evergrande should not rely on a government bailout and instead needs to save itself.
This also chimes with Beijing's aim to rein in corporate debt, which means that such a high profile bailout could be seen as setting a bad example.
Reporting by Peter Hoskins
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