China Evergrande Group is confident the company will “walk out of its darkest moment”, the debt-laden property developer’s chairman said in a letter to staff on Tuesday, as nervous global investors fretted about default risks.

In the letter that coincided with China’s mid-autumn festival, Hui Ka Yan expressed appreciation for the hard work of employees and said Evergrande will deliver property projects as pledged, and fulfil responsibilities to property buyers, investors, partners and financial institutions.

Massive liabilities

The nation’s second-largest developer, saddled with more than $300 billion in liabilities equivalent to 2 per cent of China’s gross domestic product, is scrambling to raise funds to pay its many lenders and suppliers as it tries to stem a liquidity crisis from tipping it into a collapse.

“I firmly believe that with your concerted effort and hard work, Energrande will walk out of its darkest moment, resume full-scale constructions as soon as possible, and achieve the pivotal target of delivering property projects as pledged,” said Hui.

Also see: Asian shares stabilise but global growth fears nag

Hui did not elaborate on how the company could achieve these objectives.

Its Hong Kong listed shares last traded down 3 per cent at HK$2.21 around 0318 GMT, having tumbled 84 per cent so far this year. Evergrande’s debt woes have spread turmoil in global financial markets as investors fear contagion could wreak havoc on the world economy.