Police in Shenzhen said they have arrested several employees of a subsidiary of property giant Evergrande.

They said in a statement that they had arrested employees at Evergrande's financial subsidiary, Evergrande Wealth Management, without specifying the number of employees or the charges against them.

The statement called on the public to report any cases of suspected fraud to the authorities.

Some of the mainland's biggest property developers have drawn scrutiny recently because of their debt levels.

Evergrande had estimated debt of US$328 billion at the end of June, and Country Garden narrowly avoided default in recent months, after reporting a record loss and debts of more than US$150 billion.