HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Evergrande Group began long-awaited talks with creditors on Wednesday, a participant said, as the property developer struggles under debts of more than $300 billion.
Evergrande, once China’s top selling developer and now struggling to repay its creditors, suppliers and investors in wealth management products, missed some dollar bond payments last month, triggering calls for negotiations.
Nearly $20 billion of its international bonds are now deemed to be in default.
On Monday, Evergrande sought more time from its offshore bondholders to work on a “comprehensive” debt restructuring plan, after a group of creditors said they were ready to take “all necessary actions” to defend their rights if it did not show more urgency to resolve a default.
(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Alexander Smith)
