Judges join livestreaming to auction seized goods

HANGZHOU－Judges have joined celebrities and social influencers in using online shopping platforms to livestream auctions of seized goods.

In the middle of this month, two judges from Ningbo Intermediate People's Court auctioned a sea-view mansion, a parking lot, mobile phone numbers and other assets seized in legal cases. They received more than 8,000 views in an hour.

"I did not expect the livestream to be so successful, although we had prepared for half a month," said Jin Shou, one of the judges.

The turnover of the livestreaming auction exceeded 100 million yuan ($14.28 million) after the judges introduced the items to the judicial auction.

"It is adorable to see the judges doing the livestream compared to how serious they must look in court," said a netizen using the name "Ocean's miracle".

Almost all Chinese courts have registered on the judicial sales platform of Taobao, the shopping site of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, since the service was launched in 2012. The courts have auctioned assets ranging from diamonds, cars, land use and Boeing 747s to company shares.

Online auctions can help save time and service fees for bidders and at the same time increase transparency and prevent under-the-table deals in legal affairs, according to the Suzhou Industrial Park People's Court in Jiangsu province.

A total of 566,000 items have been auctioned, with the turnover reaching about 1.3 trillion yuan on the Taobao judicial sales platform, where 3.43 million buyers have registered, according to the platform.

More people can participate in judicial auctions through the internet, especially livestreaming platforms, which helps raise the success rate of transactions and the premium rate, Jin said.

"We have also introduced the work of courts and the rules of judicial auctions to the public through the platforms," Jin added.