A court in China auctioned off a former millionaire’s last remaining piece of property - a bottle of soft drink – sparking criticism about the waste of judicial time and resources. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, more than 360 people registered to bid on the bottle of Sprite. For some context, Sprite typically costs 6 yuan in China (approximately ₹ 70).
The auction was conducted by the Dafeng District People’s Court in the Jiangsu province of China. It was hosted by Alibaba on its Alibaba Judicial Auction Platform, an online platform that allows courts to auction off seized assets, such as real estate, vehicles, and luxury goods. The inclusion of a bottle of Sprite amid such luxury goods raised eyebrows on Chinese social media.
All for a bottle of Sprite The owner of the Sprite bottle was identified only by his surname Chen in the report. He was associated with two companies - biotechnology firm and a marine food company. The registered capital of the companies exceeded 10 million yuan.
Both companies declared bankruptcy, with legal documents revealing they had multiple sanctions and administrative penalties against them. Chen said his companies could not repay their debts but he hoped his situation would improve in the future. His bottle of Sprite was put on auction on September 22 with a starting price of 4.
2 yuan. The court also informed interested bidders that the bottle would have to be picked up in person as shipping it would not be possib.