China’s Evergrande resumes Hong Kong trading

HONG KONG, CHINA — Heavily indebted Chinese property giant Evergrande resumed trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday, according to a statement on the stock exchange’s website.

“Trading in the shares of China Evergrande Group will be resumed at 9:00 am today,” the statement said.

A separate statement said trading for Evergrande Property Services would also re-start at the same time.

Tuesday’s resumptions follow an application notice late Monday, though there was no such request for the electric vehicle unit.

Evergrande has become a symbol of China’s ballooning property-sector crisis that has seen several high-profile firms engulfed in a sea of debt, fuelling fears about the country’s wider economy and a possible spillover globally.

The real estate behemoth announced last Thursday its chief was suspected of “illegal crimes” following the suspension of its shares from trading that day.

Thursday’s announcement to the exchange came a day after media reports that boss Xu Jiayin was being held by police.

No specific reason was given for the decision to suspend share trading, which also affected the company’s property services and electric vehicle units.

— AFP