More distressed assets go on the block

China Central Television reported that China Cinda Asset Management began to auction off RMB 15.7 billion in distressed assets with foreign and domestic investors. The buyers were not identified. The auction reportedly comprises 185 items, including property, coal and commodities, all from companies located in China's broken and rusted Northeast. Cinda and other asset management companies created to take on bad debts piled up by China's state banks have been known to withdraw assets from sale when bidders failed to match an asset's targeted floor price.