Corporate defaults in China surged to a record high in 2019, raising new questions over how policymakers in Beijing will manage mounting financial distress among large private and state-owned companies.
Onshore corporate defaults hit Rmb130bn ($18.6bn) in the final weeks of the year, breaking the record of Rmb122bn last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as economic growth ground to a three-decade low.
Private companies that expanded rapidly in recent years, accruing large piles of debt, have been at the heart of the explosion in corporate distress. Some of the country’s leaders in sectors such as chemicals and textiles have faced financial pressures in recent weeks.