Global restructuring specialists Alvarez & Marsal and Houlihan Lokey have boosted headcount in Hong Kong as China's property crisis results in a surge in debt restructuring deals - making them a rare bright spot in hiring for the city's financial sector. China's property industry, a key pillar of the world's second-largest economy, has lurched from one crisis to another since 2021 after a regulatory crackdown on debt-fuelled construction triggered a liquidity squeeze. According to a Reuters tally, around 20 Hong Kong-listed Chinese real estate developers have defaulted on dollar bonds which would require them to enter into restructuring talks with creditors or face liquidation.