China Great Wall Asset Management Begins Operation as Stock Corporation

(Beijing) — China Great Wall Asset Management Co. Ltd. — one of the country's four asset management companies established to handle bad loans incurred at state-owned banks — officially launched as a stock corporation on Sunday after changing its corporate structure in preparation for an initial public offering.

Great Wall was set up by the Ministry of Finance in 1999 to buy up bad debts from banks and recover as much money as possible by selling and restructuring the non-performing assets. It was officially transformed into a stock corporation on Nov. 25 by the Finance Ministry, the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) and China Life Insurance with a registered capital of 43.15 billion yuan ($6.25 billion).