East China's Zhejiang Province was actually pioneering the auctioning of stock ownership when four local auction companies were authorized to do the business Friday.
The auctioning entails stock owners selling their stocks through specially-designated agent companies which auction the stocks via public bidding, according to official sources.
Such auctions avoid secret transactions, and are known as "daylight deals," a local official said.
The province has confined stock ownership available for auction to the following four categories: stock ownership of limited liability companies; non-circulating corporate stock ownership of listed companies; stock ownership of non-listed companies; and stock ownership of overseas-funded companies.
State-owned stock ownership can not be auctioned off at a price less than 10 percent of the base price assessed by competent state assets management departments, otherwise it becomes subject to approval by the departments, according to Sun Ronggen, a senior provincial official.
Sources said that such trial auctions are also to be held in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province.
(Xinhua 04/29/2001)
