China's first impounded gov't vehicle auction fetches 1 mln USD

Photo taken on Jan. 25, 2015 shows an auction for the official vehicles in Beijing, capital of China. The central government has impounded 3,184 official vehicles and plans to auction the first 300 before the Spring Festival. (Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang)

BEIJING, Jan. 25 -- A total of 106 official vehicles expropriated by the Chinese central government were auctioned Sunday for a combined 6.6 million yuan (1.06 million U.S. dollars) amid enthusiastic bidding.

With multiple bidding rounds for many items and strong applauses given to winners, Sunday's total hammer price was up 2.748 million yuan, or 71.17 percent, from the pre-sale estimate, according to a statement from Zonto, a Beijing-based auction house running the auction.

A Toyata sedan estimated at 90,000 yuan was sold for 210,000 yuan, the top price at Sunday's auction.

"Judging from the scene, people showed a very high level of enthusiasm for the auction, and they were fully involved in the bidding," said Xu Yongsheng, a senior official with the National Government Offices Administration overseeing Sunday's auction.

These official cars were among more than 3,000 ones that were taken out of service as part of reform measures that began last July to slash spending in this area.

Bidder Xing Tiandong has been targeting the auction for a long time and carefully examined the cars during a pre-sale exhibit, but the high prices at the auction put him off.

"The price for a new low-end Roewe car is around 140,000 yuan, but a second-hand one at the auction hit 110,000 yuan. I thought it was too high," Xing said.

A bidder surnamed Yao netted a Passat 1.8L starting at 80,000 yuan for 137,000 yuan. "A brand new vehicle of this type cost around 200,000 yuan. However, the car at the auction was in a good condition, so I'm very satisfied with the deal."

Zonto was among three auction houses that won public biddings for auctioning impounded official vehicles.

Preview exhibitions were held two days before the auction, complete with every item's estimated price, vehicle type, date of registration, mileage and preservation status -- a transparency level rare for second-hand vehicle sales. Information concerning the auction and all its items was also made public via the house's website.

According to an unnamed principal with the auction house, Sunday's bidders included individuals as well as second-hand vehicle trading agents, and all deals were finalized on site.

Xu said the entire process of the auction was under the supervision of auditing and disciplinary inspection departments, and the full result will be released to the public in a timely manner.

Official rules on impounded official vehicles stipulate that the money raised at such auctions will go to the central treasury.

"The use of the money will be supervised by the leading group overseeing the official vehicle reform and will also be open to the media and the public. It's hard to imagine anyone could pull tricks on it," Xu said.