Shenzhen govt-owned firm steps in to complete four Evergrande projects

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Embattled China Evergrande Group is working with a real estate investment and operations firm owned by the Shenzhen government to complete four property developments in the tech hub, the two companies said.

They said in a joint statement posted on the Wechat account of Evergrande's Shenzhen unit on Monday that as instructed by the authorities, Evergrande has introduced Shenzhen Longgang Ancheng Investment Operation Co Ltd into four developments situated in the Longgang district.

The state-owned firm will help with the project construction to ensure delivery of homes to buyers, they said.

Evergrande chairman Hui Ka Yan said earlier this month construction of all projects across the country will resume by the end of September, updating an earlier timeline that was not met.

Struggling with more than $300 billion of liabilities, Evergrande was forced to suspend construction at many projects late last year. As of mid-September, 38 of 706 projects in China had not resumed construction, the company said this month.

(Reporting by Clare Jim in Hong Kong and Liangping Gao in Beijing; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)