Huge Chinese borrower with interest in renewables misses bond payments

China Minsheng Investment Group has not returned money to bondholders that it had pledged to repay 1 February.

Bloomberg reports that two large Chinese borrowers missed payment deadlines this month, underscoring the risks piling up in a credit market that’s witnessing the most company failures on record.

China Minsheng Investment Group Corp., a private investment group with interests in renewable energy and real estate, hasn’t returned money to bondholders that it had pledged to repay on 1 February, according to people familiar with the matter. And Wintime Energy Co., which defaulted last year, didn’t honour part of a restructured debt repayment plan last week, separate people said.

The developments are significant because both companies were big borrowers, and their problems accessing financing suggest that government efforts to smooth over cracks in the $11t bond market aren’t benefiting all firms. If China Minsheng ends up defaulting, it may rank alongside Wintime Energy as one of China’s biggest failures, with CNY232b ($34.3b) of debt as of 30 June, according to a ratings agency report.

Read the full report here.