Beijing (AFP)

The president of the ultra-indebted Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, whose possible bankruptcy could shake the economy, called on the group to "do everything possible" to honor its commitments, the official press reported on Thursday.

The private conglomerate is drowning in debt of 260 billion euros.

A default could result in a sharp slowdown in China's construction sectors and cause potential turmoil in global markets.

Pressed on from all sides, Evergrande has been facing for several weeks, across the country, demonstrations by apartment buyers and angry investors who demand their housing or their money.

Group chairman Xu Jiayin convened more than 4,000 company executives on Wednesday evening to urge them to "devote all their energy to resuming work and production and delivering real estate," the company reported. China Securities Journal daily.

A time among the greatest fortunes in China, Mr. Xu also stressed that the group must "do everything possible to honor" its commitments.

Chinese group Evergrande AFP

The statements come as Evergrande faces a new deadline on Thursday: a payment of $ 83.5 million (€ 71 million) in interest on a bond denominated in US currency.

Unable to borrow on the financial markets, and short of liquidity, the group tried to reimburse some of these creditors in kind, in particular by offering parking spaces and unfinished properties.

"It is only with a full and complete recovery of our work, our production, our sales and our operations that we will be able to guarantee the rights and interests of the owners of apartments and to ensure the payment of the investors", hammered Xu Jiayin Wednesday night, according to the China Securities Journal.

The fear of seeing a repeat in China, the world's second-largest economy, a Lehman Brothers-style scenario, whose bankruptcy precipitated the 2008 crisis in the United States and around the world, has greatly agitated world financial centers in recent days. .

All eyes are on the Chinese government, which has not specified whether or not it intends to intervene in favor of the private conglomerate.

The giant promoter announced Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with bondholders on a small part of its debt, which has contributed to renewed optimism in the stock markets.

© 2021 AFP