This year hasn t been as kind: Their dollar bonds have lost about one-third of their value amid concerns about a liquidity crisis at one of the biggest: China Evergrande Group.
Worries about possible spillover or contagion have extended to other distressed developers and rippled across markets, prompting even the US Federal Reserve to express concern about potential fallout.
Developers had US $207 billion in dollar-denominated bonds outstanding, accounting for about one-quarter of the total from China, according to Bloomberg-compiled data as of Oct 25.
The country s biggest such borrower by amount outstanding is Evergrande at US $19.2 billion.
Most dollar debt sold by Chinese builders is considered high yield or junk rated, meaning it is below investment grade.
Such ratings usually reflect a higher risk of the borrower not being able to repay the debt on time.
But such bonds have long been favored by global investors hungry for negative returns in a world where a lot of safer alternatives are juicy-yielding.
One of Evergrande s currency notes, an 8.75 per cent note due 2025, was once one of the world s most widely traded notes.