00:00 This has been going on for years actually. Evergrande first defaulted in 2021, about
00:08 a year after the Chinese government started to crack down on enormous levels of borrowing
00:14 in the Chinese property sector. Now this has been in the courts for some time with Evergrande
00:19 trying to find a new debt restructuring plan that could see the business continue forward.
00:25 There was a bit of a reprieve. It was given late last year, but it's come back to court
00:29 today and the judge Linda Chan has said that Evergrande had made a lack of progress in
00:36 preparing a viable restructuring proposal and that it consequently it was appropriate
00:43 for the court to order that the company be wound up saying that after so many months
00:48 it was time to say enough is enough. So this is very significant news for Evergrande. It
00:56 is the most indebted property developer in the world owing more than $300 billion.
01:04 So what's due to happen next Kathleen?
01:07 Well the matter's back in court this afternoon. There are a couple of things that could happen.
01:11 The liquidators obviously need to be appointed. They could order another debt restructuring
01:18 plan if they think that there's enough assets to do so. Evergrande is also able to appeal
01:24 this judgment. So it does look that this could continue on for some months yet, but it could
01:30 potentially have enormous implications for the Chinese economy. Of course, China's economy
01:36 has been struggling now for some time after coming out of very strict COVID restrictions
01:44 just over a year ago. Now Evergrande, as I say, is the most indebted property developer,
01:51 but there are several others who are in real trouble, including the country's largest property
01:56 developer, Country Garden. So unfortunately this is not a good sign for an economy which
02:02 largely has been driven through real estate growth.
02:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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