19B international exposure really doesn't seem like a lot, but, as you said, in the context of 300B total in liabilities. $279B is -a lot- for a Chinese market where the home ownership rate is almost 90% and non-primary home purchases account for ~70% of the housing purchases.
Calling it now: Tether and a few other stablecoins explode.
Where other than China would you go to buy massive positions (face valued) of bonds, with continued room for expansion of your position, in private deals that you could keep quiet?
Afaik, neither Brazil or India has loose and large enough capital markets to support that influx. And Russia is a dicey proposition.
Besides, the CCP's anti-crypto position doesn't matter here. We're talking about a company (Tether Holdings Limited, or a front for it) investing in bonds. No crypto involved.
"The financial fallout would be far reaching. Evergrande reportedly owes money to around 171 domestic banks and 121 other financial firms," the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Mattie Bekink told the BBC.
I would suspect the Chinese government will backstop the banks and firms but force consolidation and punish some people publicly.
