Country Garden expects to suspend trading of its Hong Kong-listed shares, the company said in a filing today. — Reuters picBEIJING, March 28 — Major Chinese property developer Country Garden expects to suspend trading of its Hong Kong-listed shares, the company said in a filing today, highlighting unprecedented challenges gripping the country’s debt-saddled real estate sector.
The company postponed the expected release of its 2023 results today, saying in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing that it “needs to collect more information to make appropriate accounting estimates and judgments”.“It is expected that trading in the shares of the Company on the Stock Exchange will be suspended with effect from 9am on April 2, 2024,” Country Garden said, citing rules that require a suspension if an annual report is not published by Sunday.
Country Garden warned in October that it may not be able to meet all of its offshore payment obligations in time.The real estate giant has defaulted on payments even as new deadlines loom, and failed repay 96 million yuan early March. Real estate and construction have long accounted for more than a quarter of China’s gross domestic product , serving as a key engine for growth in the national economy.