China

Some offshore bondholders of China Evergrande Group did not receive coupon payments by the end of a 30-day grace period, five people with knowledge of the matter said, pushing the cash-strapped property developer closer to formal default, Reuters reported. Adding to a liquidity crisis in China's once bubbling property market, smaller peer Kaisa Group Holdings (1638.HK) was also unlikely to meet its $400 million offshore debt deadline on Tuesday.

China’s exports rose by double digits in November but growth declined, while imports accelerated in a sign of stronger domestic demand, the Associated Press reported. Exports rose 21.4% over a year earlier to $325.5 billion, decelerating from October’s 27.1% growth, customs data showed Tuesday. Imports surged 31.7% to $253.8 billion, up from the previous month’s 20.6% rate. China’s exports have been boosted by foreign demand at a time when other global competitors are hampered by anti-coronavirus controls.

China Evergrande Group’s stocks and bonds fell to historic lows, after Chinese authorities stepped up their involvement in the company’s affairs and the indebted developer moved closer to a reorganization of its hefty international debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. Evergrande was also running up against a payment deadline, as it has done several times in recent months. The 30-day grace period on $82.5 million in interest payments from two sets of dollar bonds issued by Evergrande’s Scenery Journey Ltd. unit ends Monday, said Iris Chen, a credit analyst at Nomura. Ms.

Troubled Chinese developer Yango Group Co. received a reprieve after its parent company got bondholders’ approval to delay payment of a local bond due next week, Bloomberg News reported. Holders of the 400 million yuan ($63 million) bond issued by Fujian Yango Group, parent of Yango Group, on Friday supported a proposal to extend principal payment of the debt due Dec. 7 by a year, according to a filing on the Shanghai Clearing House. The agreement, reached at a second meeting with bondholders, came after negotiations failed last week.

Sunshine 100 China Holdings issues update on 10.5% senior notes due 2021, with outstanding principal amount of notes and any accrued but unpaid interest due on Dec. 5, according to a filing, Bloomberg News reported.

China’s central bank said it would reduce the amount of money banks are required to set aside as it moved to stimulate a slowing economy that has been weighed down by a slump in the property market, the Wall Street Journal reported. It was the second such move this year, after an earlier one in July, in an effort to inject liquidity into the financial system. The measure signals Beijing’s growing concerns about the growth outlook of the world’s second-largest economy, which has been battered in recent months by multiple headwinds.

A Chinese developer that is struggling under $310 billion in debt warned Friday it may run out of money to “perform its financial obligations” — sending regulators scrambling to reassure investors that China’s financial markets can be protected from a potential impact, the Associated Press reported. Evergrande Group’s struggle to comply with official pressure to reduce debt has fueled anxiety that a possible default might trigger a financial crisis. Economists say global markets are unlikely to be affected but banks and bondholders might suffer because Beijing wants to avoid a bailout.

Advisers to China's government will recommend authorities set a 2022 economic growth target below the one set for 2021, giving policymakers more room to push structural reforms amid growing challenges to the outlook, Reuters reported. Investors are closely watching for clues on next year's policy and reform agenda as President Xi Jinping and other top leaders hold the annual Central Economic Work Conference due this month.

The European Union will seek to mobilize 300 billion euros ($340 billion) in public and private infrastructure investments by 2027 to offer developing countries an alternative to China’s massive Belt and Road program, Bloomberg News reported. The EU’s “Global Gateway” project unveiled on Wednesday outlines spending on digital, transport, energy and health projects. And while the proposal doesn’t mention China directly, it offers a counter to Beijing’s overseas development plan that critics say has pushed countries to unsustainable levels of indebtedness.

China’s property boom has spawned numerous developers that, like industry giant China Evergrande Group, borrowed heavily to fund breakneck growth. Now they are inflicting unprecedented losses on international investors as credit grows scarce and sales of new homes decline, the Wall Street Journal reported. Investors have dumped their bonds, setting off alarms over the companies’ finances. While Evergrande so far has been able to cobble together funds to make last-minute bond payments, at least four developers have reneged on their dollar bonds since early October.