Country Garden allowed to postpone first payments on three onshore bonds

(Reuters) -Embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden said it has won bondholders' approval to further delay payments on three onshore bonds to September, in order to give it more time to raise funds.

The largest Chinese private developer, which has defaulted on its $11 billion offshore bonds and is working on an offshore debt restructuring plan, had in September extended the maturities of eight onshore bonds worth 10.8 billion yuan ($1.49 billion) by three years.

China's property sector has slumped into a debt crisis since mid-2021, leaving many companies in default and homes uncompleted.

The first installments and interest of the three yuan bonds in question were originally due in March and June, Country Garden said in a statement to Reuters, without giving details of the total value involved.

Two of the payments, under the extension plan finalised last year, were already overdue earlier this month and have entered into a 30-day grace period, according to Chinese media.

"This (bondholders approval)... effectively resolved the immediate repayment risk of the company, and provided a valuable window for the company to raise funds for repayment," it said.

($1 = 7.2457 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Clare Jim in Hong Kong and Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Muralikumar Anantharaman)