China Everbright Bank has sold non-performing assets with a face value of 14 billion yuan (US$2 billion) for 1.64 billion yuan as part of its plan to clean up its books as it prepares for an initial public offering in the summer, the bank said.

China Great Wall Asset Management Corp bought a package of 10 assets for 521 million yuan. China Orient Asset Management Corp paid 415 million yuan for a package of seven while China Cinda Asset Management Corp spent 706 million yuan on eight assets, the bank said on its Website.

Disposal of the assets is still pending approval from a board meeting this week.

The Beijing-based bank, which on March 14 announced the disposal of a package of 25 assets, made the transaction on Monday.

It said the disposal helped to cut its bad loans and speed up its listing.

Tang Shuangning, chairman of the bank and former deputy head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said earlier that it is poised to be listed in the summer.

The bank's historical bad loan burden and complex affiliate structure have been the main obstacles to its restructuring.

The lender inherited some bad debt when it took over China Investment Bank in 1999. Some lending to affiliated firms has also deteriorated into sour loans.

It has got a 20-billion-yuan bailout from the central bank's investment arm to smooth its listing plan.

(Shanghai Daily April 16, 2008)