Yi Gang’s comments by video to a seminar in Hong Kong added to indications Beijing has no plans to bail out Evergrande Group.
“Evergrande’s hazard is a market event that will be properly handled in accordance with market principles and law,” Yi said.
Default is all but certain after Evergrande, the global real estate industry’s most indebted company, warned Friday it might run out of cash.
Beijing can keep lending markets functioning if Evergrande defaults, and local officials can mobilize to contain turmoil in real estate markets, economists say.
Evergrande, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen, is the biggest company caught in a campaign launched by Beijing last year to force developers to reduce soaring debt that is seen as a threat to economic stability.
Another developer, Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., warned it might fail to pay off a $400 million bond due Tuesday.