Private placement curbs set to raise corporate China's debt risks

Hong Kong

NEW rules to rein in a surge in private share sales by Chinese companies are pushing more cash-strapped firms to borrow instead, bankers and analysts say, adding to a corporate debt burden already at its highest since the global financial crisis.

Private placements in China jumped five-fold from 2013 to US$172 billion in 2016, skirting regulators' controls on initial public offerings (IPOs) and raising concerns that companies were raisi…