BEIJING, Jan 15 — Country Garden, once China’s largest property developer, reported losses of US$24.3 billion (RM109 billion) in delayed 2023 financial results yesterday.

The figure jumped from the US$825 million loss it recorded in 2022 as China’s real estate sector slumped.

The company also said it had lost US$1.8 billion in the first half of 2024, according to interim results.

Country Garden was "facing serious challenges such as declining sales rate and credit crunch in the market”, the company wrote in its filing.

"Guaranteeing delivery remains our top priority.”

The property giant had not reported full-year financial results since running into financial difficulties in late 2023, having racked up around US$190 billion in debt.

It suspended trading in its Hong Kong stocks in April 2024 and is facing a winding-up hearing on January 20 relating to non-payment of a US$205 million loan.

The Guangdong province-based company said last week it had proposed a debt restructuring plan that would cut its offshore debt by US$11.6 billion.

China’s property sector experienced dazzling growth for two decades before a debt crisis and housing slump in recent years left several developers in financial trouble.

Evergrande, another real estate giant, was ordered liquidated in January 2024.

Beijing has announced measures to shore up the sector in recent months that include mortgage rate cuts, easing home purchasing restrictions, and boosting credit available for unfinished housing projects to more than US$500 billion.

The slump in the real estate sector, which has long accounted for around a quarter of China’s gross domestic product, has weighed on the wider economy.

Authorities are set to announce 2024 economic growth data on Friday.

President Xi Jinping has expressed confidence that China had achieved its official growth target of around five percent. — AFP