Evergrande's liquidity problems and the pressure on rivals Kaisa Group and Fantasia to make debt repayments point to how refinancing in the property development sector will only become more difficult.
Investors have turned bearish on Evergrande and, in some cases, Chinese high-yield. But many believe Beijing will support an organised restructuring of the firm to prevent its complete collapse.
The country has adopted new measures over local bond issuance and credit ratings. These may have little impact on defaults but could increase the participation of foreign investors.
Money managers in the US are confident Greece’s default this week will not lead to contagion or impact the US Federal Reserve’s stance on raising interest rates.
Fund managers' greatest fear is geopolitical crisis followed by debt defaults in China, while sentiment towards emerging markets as a whole has plunged, finds a buy-side survey.
The fund industry's arguments over active management have been dismissed by the Hong Kong government and the pension authority, paving the way for the introduction of a low-cost and largely passive default fund.
The first default of an onshore bond in China in March should cause investors to look twice at the country's high-yield universe, especially in the context of weaker covenant quality.