The Shenzhen developer, however, failed to gain enough support to extend the maturity of four of its five bond tranches due next year as it seeks to again delay repayments.

Dozens of developers have defaulted since a debt crisis unfolded in mid-2021 in the property sector, with industry experts saying they expect more companies to follow suit as home sales and liquidity show little signs of improvement despite stimulus efforts by the authorities.

Many developers eventually had to undergo an offshore debt restructuring even though they tried to avoid defaults initially by extending repayment deadlines.

In a stock market filing, China South City said it had received approval from holders of its July 2024 bonds to extend their maturity to Aug 2027, and delay until July next year a coupon payment which is expiring on Dec 20 after a 30-day grace period.

The interest rate of the notes will also be cut to 4.5% from 9%.

The required number of bondholders, however, did not give their consent to once again extend the maturity for four other notes due next year. The last time the company extended the maturity for these five notes was in July 2022.

(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Miral Fahmy)