Several well-known real estate companies in China have issued a series of debt default notices since mid-May, reflecting the worsening liquidity crisis in the industry. According to financial reports, a total of 145 billion yuan in overdue debt has been disclosed by six real estate companies. In addition, Evergrande Real Estate’s latest disclosure shows an outstanding debt of up to 272.4 billion yuan.
Guangdong Longfor Group Co., Ltd. announced its debt default on June 10th, revealing that by the end of May, the company had overdue bank and trust loans amounting to 29.846 billion yuan, with another approximately 647 million yuan in unpaid asset-backed commercial papers and corporate bond interest. The company is actively negotiating an overall resolution plan with creditors.
Shanghai Shimao Construction Co., Ltd.’s debt default announcement shows that by the end of May, the company’s overdue interest-bearing debt reached 45.89 billion yuan, with accumulated unpaid principal and interest on corporate bonds amounting to around 640 million yuan. In May alone, the company faced three new pending lawsuits with amounts exceeding tens of millions, totaling 2.281 billion yuan.
China Aoyuan Group Limited’s announcement revealed approximately 43.833 billion yuan in overdue debt as of the end of March, with a litigation amount as high as 62.56 billion yuan. The company and its major subsidiaries have a total of 317 records of dishonest debtors, facing multiple risks such as frozen bank accounts and asset seizures.
Huaxia Happiness Real Estate Co., Ltd., headquartered in Beijing, has made some progress in debt restructuring, but still had 23.03 billion yuan in debt defaults as of the end of April. Despite restructuring financial debts totaling around 192.273 billion yuan, the repayment pressure remains huge.
Fujian Rongqiao Group Limited and Guangzhou Fangyuan Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. have relatively smaller debt scales but are also facing liquidity difficulties. Rongqiao Group’s overdue principal debt amounts to approximately 2.007 billion yuan, while Fangyuan Real Estate joint venture failed to repay around 440 million yuan in due debt.
According to incomplete statistics from reporters, the total overdue debt announced by the six real estate companies mentioned has reached 145 billion yuan, reflecting an unprecedented liquidity crisis in the Chinese real estate industry.
As a landmark case of the real estate industry’s debt crisis, Evergrande Real Estate’s announcement on May 29th revealed its massive debt scale. As of the end of April 2025, the company had accumulated approximately 272.479 billion yuan in outstanding debt (excluding onshore and offshore bonds) and about 245.987 billion yuan in overdue commercial papers. Following the coercive measures taken against the founder Xu Jiayin by authorities, Evergrande faced 1,426 significant pending lawsuits involving a total of 349.553 billion yuan.
Many real estate companies have stated in their announcements that they are actively negotiating with creditors to resolve the debt issues and are working towards mitigating the debt risks.
Industry experts point out that facing enormous debts and persistent market downturns, the real estate industry’s debt restructuring and risk mitigation will be a long and complex process. Under continued economic pressure, the tight funding chains of Chinese real estate companies are becoming increasingly strained, leading to debt defaults and enterprises facing insolvency one after another.