CHINESE developer Country Garden Holdings, one of the biggest symbols of the nation’s broader property debt crisis, won approval to push back payments on three yuan bonds, sources familiar with the matter said, staving off its first local default for now.

Noteholders finished voting this week to extend coupon and principal instalment payments to September, said the sources, asking not to be identified.

The company had missed initial deadlines from Mar 12 to Apr 12 for the payments. Grace periods of 30 trading days were set to soon expire, after which creditors could have declared defaults if they had not agreed to the extensions.

The builder did not immediately comment when reached.

Country Garden already defaulted on US dollar bonds last year, becoming one of the biggest casualties of a real estate crisis that has rattled financial markets and hurt the economy. Its financial strains are piling up, with an 83 per cent slump in home sales last month exacerbating a cash crunch.

This is the second time Country Garden has stretched payments on the three bonds, which were issued by its main onshore unit.

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Based on the previous extension plans, the company was obliged to pay a coupon on Mar 12, and a 2 per cent principal instalment on Apr 12 for its 4.8 per cent note.

It also had to pay a coupon and 2 per cent principal instalment on Mar 17 for another security. None of the payments were made, however, triggering the 30 trading day grace periods.

The builder was also slated to make payments from June for one more onshore bond.

All these payments will now be delayed to September.

The company recently warned it would miss a deadline for reporting annual results, causing its shares to be suspended from trading in Hong Kong.

It is also fighting a winding-up petition filed by a creditor in a Hong Kong court. The first hearing is scheduled for May 17, when it will have to show progress on its offshore restructuring to fend off a potential liquidation order. BLOOMBERG