-- Embattled developer Country Garden Holdings (HK:2007), which is at the heart of a property market crisis China, received a winding-up petition in Hong Kong on Wednesday over its inability to repay some of its debts.
Creditor Ever Credit Ltd filed the petition in the High Court of Hong Kong over the non-payment of a HK$1.6 billion ($200 million) loan, plus interest, Country Garden said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The first hearing for the petition is now set to take place on May 17.
Country Garden is undergoing a massive overhaul of its debt obligations, and has held multiple restructuring talks with creditors after it clocked multiple defaults in 2023. The firm, which is one of the biggest property developers in China, has now become the face of a struggling sector, amid slowing sales, weakening prices and fears of a wave of defaults.
Peer China Evergrande Group (HK:3333), whose default had triggered China’s ongoing property crisis, was ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court earlier this year, after receiving a similar winding-up petition from some of its creditors.