China Joy Shipping has filed yet another petition against the embattled Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, with the former once again asking the courts to have HNA liquidated. According to a post on Hong Kong's Judiciary website, a trail is scheduled to be held on August 26 in light of the latest filing.

The filing is the second one of its kind filed by the Panama-based shipping company against HNA Group. The first filing was made in 2012 after HNA had defaulted on its debt to the company. China Joy eventually withdrew its filing from the Hong Kong High Court a year later after HNA had agreed to pay back its outstanding debt of $400,000 to the company.

After failing to pay off its rising debts, the Chinese government had been forced to step earlier in the year to help the company manage its liquidity. After years of spending billions in acquiring assets all over the world, HNA's total debt reached a peak of $94 billion in 2017. The massive borrowing cost of $5 billion per year resulted in an immense financial burden to the company, which forced it to dispose of some of its assets.

Since then, the company has managed to dispose of assets worth more than $13 billion. However, its debt burden still loomed over the company, resulting in it being unable to pay some of its loans and payment commitments. In March last year, the company sold its 69.54 percent stake in Hong Kong International Construction Management Group, which Blackstone Group bought for $894 million.

Last month, under orders from the special task force formed by the Chinese government, HNA sold its stake in a 20-story office building in Shanghai, which was bought by a state-backed debt management firm for $502.9 million.

Despite efforts to shore up its finances and shed off its debts, HNA's businesses are still continuing to struggle in light of the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The company's core aviation businesses were hit particularly hard by the global travel demand slump, forcing the company to sell part of its fleet.

The company's troubles worsened earlier in the month after it failed to make a $750 million payment as part of a $6 billion acquisition deal with US firm Ingram Micro. Investors had also started to lose confidence in the company after it announced that it was postponing the payment of principal and interest on its seven-year bonds worth an estimated 1.15 billion yuan.