Courts auction seized vehicles

Two regional courts in East China are auctioning online two cars seized by authorities, a move that could be followed by other courts across the country.

The people's courts of Ningbo's Beilun and Yinzhou districts in Zhejiang province are inviting public bids for a BMW sedan and an Outlander SUV on taobao.com, one of China's largest online shopping platforms. The auctions will take place between July 9 - 10.

Other courts in Zhejiang and judicial organs in other parts of the country could follow the move to deal with court-seized properties.

The starting prices for the BMW and the SUV are 199,900 yuan ($31,477) and 50,000 yuan.

Any citizen can take part in the auction as long as it registers and pays a 50,000 yuan deposit for the BMW and a 10,000 yuan deposit for the SUV.

The estimated value of the BMW is 250,800 yuan, while the SUV is thought to be worth 58,650 yuan.