In Depth: China’s Planned Revamp of Trust Bailout Fund Draws Questions

After Anxin Trust Co. Ltd. (600816.SH) found itself teetering financially in 2018 due to devastating losses on risky investments and shady business practices, it turned to China’s state-backed trust protection fund for help.

In the first half of 2019, the onetime darling of China’s trust industry borrowed 6.85 billion yuan ($996 million) from the fund and its manager, China Trust Protection Fund Co. Ltd. (CTPFC). At the end of June that year, the amount unpaid was 5.65 billion yuan, which was due to be repaid between July 2019 and June 2020, according to Anxin’s exchange filings. However, the company ended up defaulting on all of the outstanding loans.