Evergrande-Zentrale in Shenzhen
Foto:
NOEL CELIS / AFP
In southern China, the police have arrested several managers of the heavily indebted real estate developer Evergrande. Apparently, among those arrested is Du Liang, the CEO of the company’s asset management division. „Public security organs recently took criminal coercive measures against Du Liang and other alleged criminals at Evergrande Financial Wealth Management Co.,“ the police in the city of Shenzhen said.
The police did not disclose how many people, other than Du Liang, were arrested and when, nor did they provide any details about the charges. They urged investors to report financial crimes. There was no initial comment from Evergrande on Sunday.
After the burst of the real estate bubble in China, Evergrande faced financial difficulties two years ago but managed to avoid a complete collapse. The Chinese real estate sector has been experiencing a severe crisis for some time now, with Evergrande becoming a symbol of this. These problems are also affecting other sectors of the economy.
Evergrande hat mit einem immensen Schuldenberg zu kämpfen. Mit Verbindlichkeiten in Höhe von rund 300 Milliarden Euro gilt der Immobiliengigant als das am höchsten verschuldete Immobilienunternehmen der Welt. Mitte August beantragte es im Zuge seiner Sanierung Gläubigerschutz in den USA.
Recently, concerns have been growing about another major Chinese real estate developer. The company Country Garden experienced a stock market crash after missing two coupon payments for US dollar bonds. Earlier this month, the company was able to avoid a payment default at the last minute by extending the repayment deadlines.
Country Garden sitzt auf einem Schuldenberg von umgerechnet 178 Milliarden Euro. Allein in den kommenden zwölf Monaten werden Verbindlichkeiten in Höhe von fast 14 Milliarden Euro fällig. Dem stehen liquide Mittel von weniger als 13 Milliarden Euro gegenüber.