HONG KONG (AP) — Embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden expects to achieve a cope with its creditors in February to restructure billions of dollars in debt, the corporate’s lawyer told a Hong Kong court Monday.

Certainly one of the most important Chinese real estate firms, Country Garden defaulted on $11 billion in offshore bonds in 2023 and said earlier this month that its debt restructuring proposal would cut back its $16.4 billion offshore debt by 70%.

The Hong Kong court adjourned Country Garden’s case until May 26 after the corporate asked for more time to strike a cope with creditors.

Country Garden is certainly one of dozens of property firms caught up in a crackdown on excess borrowing that led many to default on its debts. It said last week that it posted a net lack of 12.84 billion yuan ($1.76 billion) in the primary six months of 2024. In 2023, it reported a net lack of 178.4 billion yuan ($24.4 billion).

The firm had delayed posting the outcomes its 2023 and 2024 interim results.

The debt-ridden property sector, once certainly one of the strongest engines of growth for the world’s second-largest economy, is struggling to drag out of a chronic downturn.

Home prices across China have fallen, whilst policymakers have introduced measures similar to reducing mortgage costs, lending to property developers and making it easier to purchase homes.