China's Property Giants Face Turmoil: Country Garden Sinks, Wanda's Bonds Fuel Concerns

Chinese property giant Country Garden, one of the country's largest developers, experienced a sharp fall in shares and bonds as it moved to refinance part of a 2019 loan facility. The company's troubles add to the pressure for Beijing to provide additional support to the struggling property sector, which has been on a downward trend accelerated by the COVID pandemic. The sector is facing $12.8 billion of dollar-denominated bond repayments before the end of the year, and analysts estimate that another $9 billion of defaults may occur. Country Garden, with over $40 billion of debt, is likely to require government assistance.