Zhongrong Trust’s missed payments trigger fears among Chinese investors

Anxious Chinese retail investors are bombarding listed companies with questions about their exposure to Zhongrong International Trust Co after missed payments by the trust company triggered fears of contagion across the country's financial system. Investors had submitted more than 100 questions to dozens of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed companies via investor relation platforms asking whether they had bought Zhongrong's products, after two listed firms disclosed late on Friday that they had not received payment on maturing trust products from Zhongrong. The long list of queries, which keeps growing, suggests Zhongrong's liquidity crunch could trigger broader fears, and risk of contagion in a financial system already under pressure from China's slowing economy.