By Clarence Leong


Onshore bondholders of China Evergrande Group have rejected a proposal to extend repayment of a 4.50 billion yuan (US$672.1 million) bond, the latest sign of trouble for the heavily indebted Chinese property developer.

China Evergrande's main onshore unit, Hengda Real Estate Group Co., said in a filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange Monday that most of the owners of a 2020 bond opposed the plan to push back its puttable date, the time when investors have the right to ask the company to buy it back, to Jan. 8, 2023 from the current date of July 8.

The unit issued the three-year bond in January 2020 with a 6.98% coupon.

Hengda Real Estate said it will actively engage in talks with debtholders to work out an acceptable solution. China Evergrande has so far avoided defaulting on its onshore bonds. The company has been judged to be in default by international rating companies since late last year, after failing to make some payments on U.S.-dollar bonds.

The latest development came just weeks after a winding-up petition was filed against China Evergrande in Hong Kong in relation to an obligation worth 862.5 million Hong Kong dollars (US$109.9 million). The petition was filed by Top Shine Global Limited of Intershore Consult (Samoa) Ltd. China Evergrande said then that it will oppose the petition vigorously.

China Evergrande said last month that it aimed to announce a preliminary restructuring plan by the end of July. The property giant had amassed around US$300 billion in liabilities as June 2021, including around US$20 billion in outstanding U.S. dollar bonds.


Write to Clarence Leong at clarence.leong@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-11-22 0145ET