Country Garden, once China's largest property developer by sales, defaulted on a dollar-denominated bond after failing to make a $15 million coupon payment within its grace period.
The default formalised the financial distress of the Foshan-based group, which has been trying to restructure offshore debt of more than $11 billion and onshore liabilities of multiples of that figure.
Country Garden's difficulties marked a turning point in market perceptions, given the company's previously stronger balance sheet relative to peers such as Evergrande and Sunac.
Beijing has since deployed a wider mix of measures targeting both the supply side, including project completion funding, and the demand side, with mortgage-rule easing and reduced down-payment requirements.