China Evergrande Resumes Work On More Than 10 Projects

China Evergrande Group announced on Sunday that it has restarted work on more than 10 projects in Shenzhen, Dongguan and other cities, after it averted default with a last-minute bond coupon payment late last week.

In a post on its WeChat account, Evergrande said that some projects had entered the interior decoration stage, while other buildings had recently finished construction.

Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, is where the huge construction group has its head office.

The company, which has about $300 billion in liabilities, noted that its effort to guarantee construction and get projects ready for sale would shore up market confidence.

The report included several photos of construction workers on different projects, stamped with the time and date.

Last week’s move to pay $83.5 million in interest on a US dollar bond has bought Evergrande another week to wrestle with a debt crisis looming over the world’s second-biggest economy.

The property developer also announced a plan on Friday to give future priority to its electric vehicles business over real estate.

Evergrande boss Hui Ka Yan (aka Xu Jiayin) appears to have recognized that the property business in China is set to undergo a dramatic shift, under new policies imposed by President Xi Jinping, which involve the levying of a property tax.

The company – which faces similar debt repayment deadlines on October 29, November 10, and in coming months – appears to want to maximize its income as its long list of debts come due.

Evergrande’s woes have reverberated across the $5-trillion Chinese property sector, which accounts for a quarter of the economy by some metrics, with a string of default announcements, rating downgrades and slumping corporate bonds.

Its debt crisis is also being widely watched by global financial markets concerned about broader contagion, both in China and throughout the region.

• Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard