Country Garden Asks China’s State Guarantor to Pay Bond Interest

Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co. is seeking help from a state-backed program guaranteeing developer bonds to pay interest due Thursday, people familiar with the matter said.

The cash-strapped developer is in talks with China Bond Insurance Co., which guarantees the two notes with coupons falling due as part of a broader program introduced by authorities in 2022 to help private developers ease liquidity crunches. The two coupon payments total 65.95 million yuan ($9.1 million) and are due on May 9.

The uncertainty over repayments of relatively small amounts of interest underscores Chinese developers’ mounting cash strains, despite a ...