Chinese developer asking bondholders to postpone repayment

BEIJING (AP) — A troubled Chinese real estate developer with $310 billion of debt is asking investors in one of its bonds to postpone when they will be repaid. Evergrande Group says it will conduct a three-day online vote starting Friday for holders of the 4.5 billion yuan ($700 million) bond. Evergrande is the global real estate industry’s most indebted company. It said the bond is due to mature in January 2023 but gave no indication how long investors would be asked to postpone repayment. Evergrande’s struggle to avoid defaults while it tries to comply with tighter official limits on borrowing by China’s real estate industry has prompted fears of a financial crisis.