SHANGHAI (REUTERS) – China Evergrande Group’s main unit Hengda Real Estate Group said on Wednesday (Sept 22) that it would make a bond interest payment on Sept 23.

In a statement, Hengda said it would make the coupon payment on its Shenzhen-traded 5.8 per cent September 2025 bond.

Evergrande, with over US$300 billion (S$405 billion) in liabilities, is in the throes of a liquidity crisis that has left it racing to raise funds to pay its many lenders and suppliers. It has a bond interest payment of US$83.5 million due on Thursday.

Hengda said in a WeChat post dated Saturday that investors interested in redeeming wealth management products for physical assets should contact their investment consultants or visit local offices.

According to a proposal seen earlier by Reuters that Evergrande did not confirm, wealth management product investors can choose from discounted apartments, office, retail space or carparks for repayment.

China stocks opened sharply lower on their return from a public holiday on Wednesday, playing catch-up with global markets which were roiled at the start of the week by fears of a messy collapse of  Evergrande. 

Both the CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite Index lost more than 1 per cent in opening deals on Wednesday. The CSI300 Real Estate index started nearly 2 per cent lower, but recouped losses in early trading. The CSI300 Banking Index fell nearly 3 per cent. 

Evergrande’s Hong Kong-listed shares tumbled over 10 per cent during the first two days of the week, when mainland markets were closed for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Fears of spillover effect knocked property and banking shares. 

The Hong Kong market was shut on Wednesday for a public holiday.

Singapore shares also opened weaker on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) slipping 0.6 per cent as at 9.02am.