City to auction off seized liquor, no refunds

A city government in East China is gearing up for an online auction in a bid to dump all its confiscated booze.

Some is genuine, some perhaps counterfeit, and for some of the items on block, apparently no bid is too low, thepaper. cn reported.

Starting Tuesday, authorities in Huangshan, Anhui Province for the first time will begin taking offers on their stock of spirits on online platform Xianyu, Alibaba’s version of eBay, an official announcement read.

Held in cooperation with the local CPC Commission for Discipline Inspection, the auction will include bottles of top- shelf baijiu brands such as Maotai, Wuliangye and Gujinggong, as well as imports such as Royal Salute, XO and wines.

The sources of the confis- cated liquors was not reported.

While liquors deemed genuine, such as a bottle of 15- yearold Wuliangye baijiu valued at around 1,000 yuan ($ 160), are expected to go for market price, bids for “uncertified” spirits start at 1.01 yuan ($ 0.15).

An employee at the city’s center for trade and public resource, which is managing the auction, explained that prospective bidders are welcome to inspect the items on- site today.

The employee stressed they offer no guarantees as to the items’ authenticity.

As all the confiscated liquors are property of the State, all profits will go to the National Treasury, the employee added.