Bad debt deals: Cinda's toxic assets for sale on Taobao

Searching for the best deals on the mainland's hottest toxic assets? Look no further than Taobao, the mainland's largest online retail platform, where a state-controlled asset manager began selling off distressed debt for the first time this month.

The Zhejiang province branch of China Cinda Asset Management, one of four firms created under the Ministry of Finance in 1999 to buy up bad debt from banks, sold off two soured debt contracts on a Taobao page this month for a total 24.5 million yuan (HK$31 million).

The two contracts sold in eight hours, after garnering a combined 7,978 views. A third product was recalled.

For those who missed the fire sale, this was the first of many batches to come, said one of Cinda's contact people listed on the Taobao page. "It's a long-term platform for us," said the person, surnamed Li.

The online retail sales of distressed assets could represent a new era for bad-debt disposals on the mainland and reflects the growing interest state firms, both financial and non-financial, have taken in marketing via online platforms.

Cinda's Taobao page was also a window into the kind of deals the so-called "bad bank" was striking on the local level.