, Columnists
China’s Default Wave Spares the Biggest Fish
State-backed borrowers are benefiting from Beijing’s bounty at the expense of their private peers.
Full steam ahead, for some.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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Brace yourself: A growing number of hard-up Chinese borrowers aren’t making good on their debts. The pattern is all too familiar.
After a record year of defaults in 2018, two big issuers failed to meet their obligations in recent weeks. Coal miner Wintime Energy Co., one of China’s biggest defaulters last year, missed interest payments again this month. Beijing Orient Landscape & Environment Co., which builds water-treatment plants, was late on a 500 million yuan ($74 million) bond due this month.1