China set for record defaults

Corporate-bond defaults: Pedestrians walk past commercial buildings illuminated at dusk in the Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai, China. Chinese companies have reneged on about 16.5 billion yuan (US2.5bil) of public bond payments so far this year, compared with the high of 20.7 billion yuan seen in all of 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. — Bloomberg

HONG KONG: China is zooming to a record year of corporate-bond defaults, with the 2018 total already more than three-quarters of the previous high even before an expected economic slowdown bites.

Chinese companies have reneged on about 16.5 billion yuan (US$2.5bil) of public bond payments so far this year, compared with the high of 20.7 billion yuan seen in all of 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.