China property giant suspends shares amid.

Shares in crisis-hit Chinese property giant Evergrande have been suspended in Hong Kong amid reports its chairman has been placed under police surveillance.

It follows reports earlier this week that other current and former executives had also been detained.

Thursday's market statement did not give a reason for the trading halt.

But it marks another low for the heavily indebted property giant which defaulted in 2021, triggering China's current real estate market crisis.

In August, the firm filed for bankruptcy in New York, in a bid to protect its US assets as it worked on a multi-billion dollar deal with creditors.

The market trading halt now comes just a month after the firm's previous 17-month suspension was lifted.

Evergrande - once valued as the world's most valuable property developer - is at the centre of a real estate crisis threatening the world's second largest economy.

With more than $300bn (£247bn) of debt, the firm has been scrambling to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors.

Most of Evergrande's debt is owed to people within China, many of whom are ordinary citizens whose homes have not been finished.

When the firm defaulted on its huge debts in 2021, it sent shockwaves through global financial markets as the property sector contributes to roughly a quarter of China's economy.

Several other of the country's major developers have defaulted over the past year and many are struggling to find the money to complete developments.

In July, Evergrande revealed it had lost a combined 581.9bn yuan ($79.6bn; £65.6bn) over the post two years.

It has been working on a new repayment plan and the company seemed to have been moving closer to resolving the problem after it filed for US bankruptcy protection.

Its latest plan was to reissue its overseas debt as new bonds that it had to pay back in about 10 years' time, as well as offering their creditors stakes in the company as shares.
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