The China Huarong Asset Management Corporation announced in Beijing Monday that well-known international investment banks have entered bids for non-performing assets under Huarong's management.
A spokesman for Huarong says that by November 19 14:00, the deadline for bids, three bidding teams consisting of seven overseas investors and domestic enterprises had submitted their application for tenders for five packages of Huarong's non-performing assets.
Huarong is the first among China's four AMCs to offer non-performing financial assets to international investors via the public bidding system. This move is widely seen as a significant step by China to accelerate the handling of huge amounts of non-performing financial assets bought by the AMCs from State-owned commercial banks. It is also thought as an easy way for international investors to enter China's financial market.
Bidding began in February this year when Huarong signed a contract for advice and trading services with Earnest & Young.
The spokesman says that Huarong has invited related supervising departments and social notary institutions to oversee the whole bidding process.
Succesful bidders will be announced within a month, he says.
The five asset packages have a total book value of RMB15.6 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion), and involve 356 enterprises in the industries of real estate, construction materials, metallurgy, textiles, electronics, commerce, and chemicals, transportation and others, he says.
(People's Daily November 20, 2001)
