Halloween, on October 31, is traditionally the day for spooky behaviour. China’s bond market received its own scare a day earlier.
On October 30, mainland coal company Hidili Industry International Development said it would not be able to repay its outstanding US dollar bond issue after defaulting on Rmb6 billion $947 million of local loans.
The unwelcome news put the frighteners on international investors who hold the bonds. And it came just nine days after state-owned steel maker Sinosteel failed to make an interest payment on Rmb2 billion $315.52 million of its 2017 bonds.
However, for securitisation and distressed debt investors, the growing stresses...