Expect more forgeries, fakes in China debt market amid bond rout

Hong Kong

FORGED seals, fake letters and counterfeit documents - they are all part of China's recent spate of fraud coming to light in the country's US$3 trillion corporate debt market amid a rout that has analysts predicting a record number of defaults in 2017.

As it becomes harder for Chinese companies to issue new notes to repay maturing debt, expect more scandals to come - and to worsen the bond market's already-precipitous downturn.