State-backed trust firm's financial sector risk exposed as it fails to meet US$19 million in wealth-management payments

State-backed trust firm Zhongrong International Trust has missed principal and income payments on 140 million yuan ($19.3 million) of wealth-management products sold to three listed companies, raising concerns about liquidity problems in China's financial sector. The trust firm failed to repay 60 million yuan in principal and 4.26 million yuan of investment gains on two products due last week, while another company did not receive 30 million yuan of principal. This highlights the risk of a liquidity crisis in the financial industry beyond the property sector, as China's economic slowdown continues.