On September 18, 2021, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “How Beijing’s Debt Clampdown Shook the Foundation of a Real-Estate Colossus: China Evergrande’s looming collapse and its ripple effect on the economy will pose a test for the government’s campaign to keep housing affordable for the masses” which stated, among other things, that “[t]he party has ended. Years of aggressive borrowing have collided with Beijing’s crackdown on debt, leaving [China Evergrande] on the brink of collapse.”
On this news, China Evergrande’s shares fell sharply on the next trading day, September 20, 2021, on unusually heavy trading volume, damaging investors.