Details matter in would-be debt-for-equity swap plan

China's debt-for-equity swaps, designed to shed 1-trillion-yuan ($154 billion) worth of underused capacity, have raised numerous questions about how the government will resolve the bad debts of inefficient companies, Caixin magazine recently reported.

Discussions about how China will deal with insolvent State-owned enterprises have been ongoing for months, but Caixin's report on Monday was the first to outline the scope of the plan to convert nonperforming, problematic and "normal" loans on the banks' balance sheets to shares in distressed companies.

Premier Li Keqiang indicated earlier that this would be a top-down, national strategy to alleviate the companies' repayment pressures, not a piecemeal response.