Evergrande races to restart projects as debt repayments loom

Evergrande races to restart projects as debt repayments loom

Bloomberg/Hong Kong

China Evergrande Group said it has resumed construction at most of its housing projects as authorities push the debt-laden developer to pay migrant workers and deliver apartments.

Nearly 92% of Evergrande’s property projects have so far restarted, compared with just about 50% at the beginning of September, according to a company statement released Sunday night. The number of workers involved in the projects that have resumed building has risen 31% from September to 89,000.

“As long as we do a good job in restarting work, production and construction, we’ll be able to deliver houses to buyers, resume sales and operations and pay off debts,” the statement cited Chairman Hui Ka Yan as saying at a company meeting.

Evergrande is struggling with more than $300bn in liabilities as a government campaign to deleverage developers and curb years of housing speculation takes a toll. Already labelled a defaulter after missing coupon payments on two bonds, Evergrande is facing a maturity wall next year and has said it plans to “actively engage” with offshore creditors on a debt restructuring plan.

Concerned that a deepening industry crisis would hurt economic growth and undermine social stability, Beijing has started to ease financing for some developers