Spillover from China’s property debt risks is controllable

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The spillover effect of Chinese real estate companies’ debt default risks to the financial industry is generally controllable, state media said on Monday, as concerns continue to loom over China Evergrande Group.

The comment was published in a Xinhua question and answer piece on the Chinese economy, for which the news agency said it had interviewed “relevant departments” and “authoritative people”.

The article, which did not directly name China Evergrande, said property companies were facing debt default issues due to poor management and a failure to adjust their operations to market changes.

“It should be understood that there will be clues if a property is likely to default on its debts, so the risk of spillover to the financial industry can be predicted,” Xinhua said.

It also said the country will steadily advance real estate taxation reform.

Evergrande, deep in crisis with more than $300 billion in liabilities, last week appeared to avert default with a last-minute bond coupon payment. On Sunday, it said it had resumed work on more than 10 projects in six cities including Shenzhen.

Its woes have reverberated across the $5 trillion Chinese property sector, which accounts for a quarter of the economy by some metrics, with a string of default announcements, rating downgrades and slumping corporate bonds.

Its debt crisis is also being widely watched by global financial markets concerned about broader contagion.