[1] As such, they are generally dependent on the refinancing of maturing debt for their continued existence and may face solvency risks should interest rates rise or investors withdraw from further financing.
[2] The retailer Daiei is an example of a large company that expanded greatly during the period leading to the 1990 crash, and under different circumstances would have been expected to have entered receivership or bankruptcy.
[2][3] The term zombie company returned to the economic professional discourse towards the end of the decade (2010 onwards) following the situation of 0 interest rate (i.e., Zero Lower Bound - ZLB) in the western countries.
[5] At the 2016 National People's Congress, the country's government recognized the issue of the 'Zombie Enterprises' and announced that it was to close or reorganize many state-owned (public) industrial companies by 2020.
[8] The term has also seen an increased amount of usage in 2022, with concern over a number of "zombies" possibly going bankrupt or needing to layoff workers due to a spike in interest rates.