HONG KONG — New pockets of economic weakness in China emerged on Tuesday, as the collapse of a highly indebted real estate developer and weak home sales pointed to a slowdown in the sprawling property sector.

The latest batch of difficulties add to the continuing debate over China’s commitment to economic reforms. While Beijing is pushing through initiatives to reform its economy, the worry is that the country’s slowing economy will prompt it to reverse course.

The nation’s growth has decelerated to its slowest pace in more than a decade. The default of the developer, the Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Investment Company, is likely to heighten the concerns that growth will remain sluggish, at least by China’s standards.

The vast real estate market, which has accounted for a significant portion of the gross domestic product, is an essential piece of the economic puzzle. And recent data has prompted concerns about the health of China’s housing market. In the latest example, growth in new-home sales in several of its biggest cities slowed last month from January, data released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.