After months of speculation, two major Chinese residential real estate developers have defaulted on their bond payments. In December, Evergrande and Kaisa failed to pay interest due on $1.6 billion worth of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds in aggregate. Evergrande was the highest-profile, as the Shenzhen-based developer had for months tried to raise cash to pay down its $300 billion in liabilities.  Experts have predicted for months that Evergrande would default, which could cascade into a lack of financing for the real estate sector as most Chinese property developers are highly indebted, effectively culminating in a so-called “Lehman moment” for the entire Chinese financial sector. Even the U.S. Federal Reserve warned of risks to the U.S. economy because of contagion from a financial collapse in China. “Financial stresses in China could strain global financial markets through a deterioration of risk sentiment, pose risks to global economic growth, and affect the United States,” …