China property giant Shimao faces winding-up case

China's crisis-hit property market has been dealt a fresh blow as major real estate developer Shimao Group has been hit with a winding-up petition.

State-owned China Construction Bank (Asia) filed the petition in Hong Kong over Shimao's failure to repay loans worth HK$1.58bn ($201.8m; £159.7m).

It is rare for a Chinese bank to take such legal action against one of the country's developers. Similar cases against other property firms were launched by overseas-based creditors.

Shimao said in a stock exchange filing it would "vigorously" oppose the lawsuit.

Its shares, which have lost a third of their value since the start of the year, fell by more than 15% to hit an all-time low during Monday's trading.

Like several other Chinese property developers, Shanghai-based Shimao defaulted on offshore bonds in 2022.

Last month, it laid out detailed plans to restructure its debts.

In January, rival real estate giant China Evergrande was ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court.

With more than $300bn of debt, Evergrande has been the poster child of China's real estate crisis.

Property developer Country Garden also defaulted on its overseas debt last year and faces a winding-up petition.

The first hearing for that petition, which was filed by Ever Credit Ltd, is scheduled for 17 May.

Ever Credit is a unit of Kingboard Holdings, a laminates maker and property investor.

China's real estate industry has been facing a major financial squeeze since 2021 when the government introduced measures to curb the amount big developers could borrow.

Since then several large property firms have defaulted on their debts.

Problems in China's property market have a major impact on its economy as the sector accounts for around a third of the economy.