Chinese state-owned firms’ defaults hit highest since 2014, to face more pressure to make debt repayments this year

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Chinese state-owned companies' debt defaults last year hit the highest since 2014 and they are likely to face growing pressure to make debt repayments this year as Beijing moves to tighten credit growth.

State-owned companies defaulted on 71.8 billion yuan ($11.1 billion) worth of debt in 2020, accounting for 51 per cent of all defaults of the year, and the largest default total for state-owned firms since China first allowed onshore bond defaults in 2014, according to data from the National Institution for Finance & Development (NIFD), a government think tank.