Country Garden Holdings denies rumors founder and chair have left China

Country Garden Holdings released a statement on Thursday morning saying that its founder and his daughter, the chairwoman of the board, are working in China as usual.

There had been rumors online that founder, Yang Guoqiang, and his daughter, Yang Huiyan, had left China.

China's biggest private property developer refuted the rumors and said it reserved the right to hold accountable those responsible for spreading malicious rumors.

A grace period for a US$15 million coupon payment by Country Garden Holdings expired on October 18, fuelling fears that it had defaulted on its offshore debt.

In response to this, the company said it may be unable to fulfill its payment obligations for all offshore debts on schedule due to the continuous pressure on sales. It hopes to seek a comprehensive solution to solve the difficulties and restore the value of all parties to the greatest extent by maintaining continuous operations.