Chinese Companies Buying Back Stock to Avoid Pledged Loan Margin Calls

Stock buybacks in China may be less about buying low and more about CEOs and major shareholders avoiding margin calls.
SCMP: Bottom-fishing investors should rethink when Chinese companies start buying back their shares

An easy and obvious solution is to prop up the company’s shares with buy-backs. In contrast to their US counterparts, Chinese investors are right to be wary. In the second half, a staggering 1 trillion yuan of share-pledged loans will be due. A similar amount of corporate bonds will need to be refinanced, forcing these companies to compete for funding.