Qinghai Provincial Investment Group, a state-owned investment vehicle in the country’s remote northwest, defaulted on two bonds earlier this week. One was missed interest payment on a RMB 20 million ($3 million) onshore bond which, though undoubtedly a negative sign, was not exceptional given the growing prevalence of defaults since 2014, when Baoding Tianwei Group became the first state-owned enterprise (SOE) to formally default on onshore debt.