HONG KONG -- A select group of state-backed Chinese property developers are emerging as relative "winners" in the crisis engulfing the country's real estate sector, as they take advantage of private rivals' distress.
Among 31 major listed developers that released monthly contracted sales data by Friday, only China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings bounced back to positive growth in the second half of the year. All 31 recorded double-digit year-on-year decline for the first eight months.
