Defaults on Chinese corporate bonds rose to a record high last year, in a fresh sign of wobbles hitting the country’s financial markets as economic growth slows.
Forty five Chinese corporates defaulted on 117 bonds with a principal amount of Rmb110.5bn ($16.3bn), according to Fitch statistics that track the credit market on mainland China. Both the number of issuers and principal value were all-time peaks.
“The vast majority of onshore defaults were by non-[state-owned enterprises], which accounted for 86.7 per cent of defaults by issuer count and 90 per cent by principal amount,” said Jenny Huang and Shuncheng Zhang, analysts at Fitch, also noting signs that “investor risk appetite has deteriorated on the surge in onshore defaults”.