China puts on a garage sale

Those foreign investors prepared to pick their way through the rubbish on offer from China in the form of distressed loans may be able to uncover a few fantastic investment opportunities. They've done it before in other markets, but China offers its own unique challenges in seizing assets. It's certainly not for the faint-hearted. But those prepared to buy NPLs may benefit in other ways from the gratitude of the Chinese authorities.

“I have travelled all over China to see what they are trying to sell. And to be honest, I have seen some real garbage,” says the banker. He looks out from his office in Hong Kong across to the mainland and continues: “But there must be some diamonds. The problem is we can’t pay for those because we don’t know where they are.” 

For the first time the Chinese are permitting foreign investors to buy cheap assets through participation in auctions of non-performing loans.

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