Developers Get New Way to Deal With Debt

A rundown of the news making headlines in and around China:

Developer debt: The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have given China’s financially strapped real estate companies a new way to deal with onshore debt they are having trouble repaying. Both exchanges announced Friday that they were launching “bond-exchange operations” for debt restructuring. The move allows developers to issue new bonds to repay existing ones as long as they reach an agreement with their creditors. Companies restructuring their domestic debt have typically focused on solutions that allow them to repay what they owe later. However, such debt extensions have usually resulted in defaults. In the past, bond exchanges have also failed to avert defaults. Nonetheless, one official noted that authorities have since reformed the rules that will make this repayment path more viable.