Evergrande: Chinese construction giant files for bankruptcy protection in the US.

Chinese imperial real estate giant Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. as the crisis in China's real estate market continues to worsen. It will allow the debt-heavy company to protect its assets in the U.S. as it works toward a billion-dollar deal with creditors.

The move comes at a time when problems in China's real estate market are adding to worries about the world's second-largest economy. China Evergrande Group filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy law protection in a New York court on Thursday.

Chapter 15 provides protection for U.S.-based assets to a foreign company in the process of restructuring its debts. Evergrande did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

Its other businesses include an electric car manufacturer and a soccer club. Its debts are estimated at more than $300 billion (£235 billion), making it the most indebted real estate in the world.

Some of the biggest companies in China's real estate market are having trouble finding money to complete construction. "The key is to complete unfinished projects because that will at least preserve some funding," said Stephen Cochran of information and analytics firm Moody's Analytics.

He added that many homes have already been sold, but if construction stops, buyers stop paying their mortgages, putting further strain on developers' finances. The weak growth means China is not facing the rising prices that have shaken many other countries and forced central bankers to raise borrowing rates.

China's imports and exports also fell sharply last month as weak global demand threatens the recovery prospects of the world's second-largest economy. Last week, China's central bank unexpectedly cut its key interest rate for the second time in three months in an attempt to stimulate the economy.