On January 23, the CAMC signed an asset security agreement with Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) providing for the joint handling of 1.58-billion-yuan (US$190 million) worth of Chinese non-performing assets (NPA) in the international NPA market.

It was China's first ever non-performing asset security project, claimed Zhu Dengshan, president of the CAMC, and also represented a significant financial initiative aimed at exploring "more effective" handling of China's NPAs.

Asset securitization is currently permitted in China's domestic financial market, said Chen Xiaozhou, the project chief executive and assistant president of the CAMC. However, since the CAMC's securitization project will be carried out by the DBK overseas, the project will not "violate China's domestic financial policy," Chen noted.

Asset securitization, Chen added, is an effective tool for the optimal handling of low liquidity financial assets, such as long-term bank loans and public infrastructure investment.

"It's a real good cure for bad bank assets", Chen said.

Nevertheless, Chen also warned that China is not yet ready to implement the method due to an inadequate legal framework in this area.

The CAMC is one of the country's four state-owned asset management corporations in charge of handling NPAs purchased from the China Construction Bank and the State Development Bank.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2003)