(Yicai) March 25 -- Embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group has filed documents to a court in the United States to withdraw its bankruptcy protection application.

Evergrande and its subsidiaries Scenery Journey and Tianji Holding are not expected to proceed with their previously planned offshore debt restructuring scheme, so they applied to withdraw their applications for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection on March 22, the Shenzhen-based parent company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday.

Last August, Evergrande filed for protection from creditors in a US bankruptcy court in Manhattan. Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection allows foreign companies to file for bankruptcy in the US if they have assets in multiple countries.

“At this stage, all options remain open for consideration, and the joint and several liquidators will make fresh applications under Chapter 15 of Title 11 of the US Code in support of these options as they consider necessary or appropriate,” Evergrande noted.

China’s securities watchdog imposed a CNY4.2 billion (USD580 million) fine against Hengda Real Estate Group, Evergrande’s flagship unit announced on March 18.

Hengda, its founder Xu Jiayin, and other senior executives have been penalized for falsifying revenues by CNY560 billion (USD78 billion) in the two years preceding the builder’s default.

In 2019 and 2020, Hengda inflated its annual revenues by about CNY214 billion and CNY350.2 billion, respectively, net profits by CNY40.7 billion and CNY51.3 billion (USD5.7 billion and USD7.1 billion), and costs by CNY173.3 billion and CNY298.9 billion, according to the results of an investigation by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The falsified revenue and profit in 2019 accounted for about 50 percent and over 63 percent, respectively, of Hengda’s totals that year, per the CSRC, while the figures were nearly 79 percent and 87 percent in 2020.

Editor: Futura Costaglione