Cash-strapped local governments in China have begun auctioning off fleets of officials’ luxury cars as part of efforts to boost revenues hit by the country’s slowdown.
Wenzhou, a south-eastern coastal city hit hard by the cooling economy, sold 215 cars at the weekend, raising Rmb10.6m ($1.7m). It plans to sell 1,300 vehicles – 80 per cent of the municipal fleet – by the end of the year.
Government revenues from tax and land sales in Wenzhou have been declining after years of heady growth. With the city’s risk-taking businesses struggling to pay back debts, the burden has fallen on the local government to turn things round. State media noted the auctions would boost the city’s coffers.