Pressure is mounting on companies whose behavior could pose a risk to China\u2019s financial system. HNA Group, the vast Chinese conglomerate that threw tens of billions of dollars at trophy businesses around the world, is nearing the biggest corporate collapse in recent Chinese history, offering a glimpse of how Beijing treats its most powerful entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
HNA\u2019s insolvency is the largest China has seen since the country first began using its bankruptcy law in 2007,<\/strong> according to Michelle Luo, a bankruptcy lawyer at Hui Ye law firm. It will also test the law\u2019s strength \u2014 just 76 companies have gone through bankruptcy proceedings in China, Alexandra Stevenson reports for The New York Times.<\/p>\n Xi Jinping, China\u2019s top leader, told a meeting of the country\u2019s senior Communist Party officials late last month that the government must anticipate risks even as it pursues growth. He urged officials to make plans to deal with \u201cgray rhinoceros\u201d events, referring to large and evident problems in the economy that are ignored until they become urgent threats. Chinese media had often referred to HNA as a gray rhino before its decline.<\/p>\n The party has strengthened its hand in private business in recent months and urged entrepreneurs to \u201cidentify politically, intellectually and emotionally\u201d with its goals. It has also pledged to prevent what it called the \u201cdisorderly expansion of capital,\u201d a reference to the type of lavish spending of borrowed money for which HNA had become known.<\/p>\n Among the party\u2019s recent prominent targets is the Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba Group. In December, the authorities opened an antitrust investigation into the company, which the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma helped found. One month earlier, days before a planned initial public offering of Mr. Ma\u2019s finance giant, Ant Group, regulators stepped in to stop it.<\/p>\n