Has the Evergrande Debt Crisis Rattled Chinese Capital Markets? A Series of Event Studies and Their Implications

In response to the global concern of the Evergrande debt crisis, we document several findings of the crisis's contagion effect. First, although most real estate companies have strong financial fundamentals, the high default risk among large firms sends an alarming signal. Second, the spillover effect to peer developers is stronger in the credit market than in the stock market. Finally, the systemic financial risk of the banking sector remains low during the crisis. Overall, while there is a low probability of a wide-ranging financial crisis, a debt crisis in real estate sector might be on the horizon.