Debt-laden China Evergrande gives back land sites to Wuhan city

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Chinese municipal district said it had taken back 134,500 hectares (332.4 acres) of land formerly held by a unit of debt-laden developer China Evergrande Group and had made no payment for doing so.

The government of Jiangxia District in the central city of Wuhan retrieved its land-use rights over the undeveloped sites at the Evergrande Technology Tourism City on November 16, according to a statement by the district’s Planning and Natural Resources Bureau.

China Evergrande unit Wuhan Baden City Investment Co Ltd has held the land as developer of Evergrande Technology Tourism City. A right to use land is the Chinese equivalent of ownership, since title is always ultimately held by the state.

China Evergrande, engulfed by $300 billion in liabilities, has been at the centre of a deepening property debt crisis that has seen multiple developers default on offshore debt obligations over the past year, leaving many negotiating debt restructuring.

The land parcels taken back by Jiangxia comprised nine residential sites, two commercial and one for mixed development, the filing, dated Nov. 18 showed. It gave no further details.

Evergrande declined to comment. Its shares have been suspended since March.

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