President Death Leaves Heir Overdue Rail Payments

The death of China Railway Group Ltd.’s president left his successor an escalating challenge: collecting on unpaid construction-work bills in an industry plagued by record debt as borrowing costs surge.

Shares in China’s second-biggest builder of railways have fallen 4.9 percent in Hong Kong since the company said Jan. 5 that President Bai Zhongren had died in an accident and that Chairman Li Changjin will take over his job before a successor is chosen. The yield on 2023 dollar-denominated debt of a company unit reached an eight-week high of 5.03 percent on Jan. 9, up from 3.88 percent when they were sold last January.