A court in China has come under fire for wasting resources after a bankrupt China millionaire was allowed to auction off his last possession, a bottle of Sprite. - Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
BEIJING: The actions of a court in China which auctioned off a bottle of soft drink as the last remaining piece of property owned by a bankrupt millionaire have sparked an online debate about wasting judicial resources.
The auction was conducted by the Dafeng District People’s Court in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, southeastern China.
A bottle of Sprite, which typically costs 6 yuan (9 US cents) in shops, was auctioned with a starting bid of 4.2 yuan, increasing in increments of 0.08 yuan.
The court ordered that the buyer must pick up the item in person as shipping was not available.
Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, hosted the auction on its Alibaba Judicial Auction Platform.
According to the Yangtse Evening Post, the owner of the Sprite bottle was associated with two companies, a biotechnology firm and a marine food company, which had registered capital of five million yuan (US$713,000) and US$1.725 million, respectively.
Both companies have declared bankruptcy, leaving no significant assets.
Legal documents from China Judgements Online also revealed that the companies had multiple disputes and administrative penalties, including sanctions from local environmental authorities for lacking necessary environmental protection facilities in their seaweed farming and processing operations.
The debtor, surnamed Chen, said that the company could not repay its debts but expressed hope for changing the situation in the future.
At the time of writing, the auction was withdrawn after the involved parties reached a settlement.
Despite this, the auction had already attracted significant attention, with 366 people registering to bid and 652 setting reminders. The listing received more than 13,000 views.
It is not the first time the Dafeng District People’s Court auctioned off small items.
Previously, it had successfully auctioned items such as two vegetable washing basins for 7.1 yuan, a cup for 5.6 yuan, and a set of screwdrivers, also for 5.6 yuan.
One of the most surprising auctions involved two bottles of expired windscreen washer fluid, which fetched a price of 4.08 yuan (6 US cents).
The case led many netizens to question the misuse of judicial resources.
One person said: “This auction is just wasting resources.”
“This is so ridiculous. I bet Sprite itself never imagined it would be auctioned one day,” said another.
A third person made a calculation.
“This will fail to sell. Even when you add the bus tickets, which are 4 yuan round trip, to the auction price of 4.2 yuan, the total comes to 8.2 yuan.
“However, you can buy it at the market for just 6 yuan. Unless someone from the court decides to buy it themselves.” - South China Morning Post
