What's on the block in China's potential sale of the century?

Hong Kong

TWO years ago, hardly a week would go by before news would emerge that HNA Group, Dalian Wanda Group or Anbang Insurance Group was in talks to invest in an overseas trophy asset as the trio spearheaded the nation's seemingly insatiable appetite for global expansion.

Today, all three are hunkering down and in downsizing mode. HNA is planning about US$16 billion in asset sales during the first half of the year, Wanda is putting up its last two overseas property developments up for sale, and the government last year asked Anbang - rudderless since its chairman's detention in June - to sell its overseas assets, according to people familiar with the matter.

Behind the reversal is China's clampdown on capital outflows to protect the yuan from depreciating and as the government steps up its campaign to snuff out financial risks stemming from the country's …