Local govts in China hold billions in debt; these bonds now under threat

China's leadership isn't prepared for a borrower with a regional authority's imprimatur to renege on its principal

China has embraced the idea of defaults imposing some discipline on debtors in its bond market. And some of the most troubled debtors are local governments’ financing vehicles. So an LGFV default has long seemed on the cards. But it just isn’t happening.

Moody’s Investors Service thought the first one might come in 2017. Almost two years later, there have been some close calls -- including with a late payment by a unit owned by Qinghai province on a dollar bond last month that caused ripples through the investment community -- but no default.

What it suggests is China’s leadership isn’t prepared