China bad-debt manager now a shareholding firm

Beijing

CHINA Great Wall Asset Management Co officially launched as a restructured joint-stock firm on Sunday, with an eye towards a market listing and a bigger role in tackling China's mounting bad debt.

Great Wall is one of the country's Big Four state-owned bad debt managers set up in 1999 to purchase non-performing loans from the country's four biggest state-owned banks.

It has handled about 1.7 trillion yuan (S$352 billion) in bad debt so far.

The transition to a shareholding company means Great Wall, which was previously wholly-owned by China's finance ministry, can now sell stakes to …