Boeing aircraft auctioned on China’s Taobao online platform

China's SF Airlines Co set a ourchase record on Taobao, the country's biggest e-commerce platform, yesterday bidding over 320 million yuan ($48 million) for two Boeing 747 freighter planes, Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to the agency the seller was the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City. A third plane was not sold.

''Online auctions are a good way to handle the property of bankrupt firms,'' Long Guangwei, the court's vice-president, told Xinhua. According to the Taobao listings, the jets originated from Jade Cargo International.

Taobao's court auction platform features assets from cities across China, with real estate, industrial equipment and vehicles - in various states of repair - up for bids. Taobao, which means ''digging for treasure,'' also auctions off bad loans from Chinese companies.

According to the court, it is the first time aircraft aircraft have been the subject of a Taobao judicial auction. Deals were struck after 26 bids.

"Online auctions are a good way to handle the property of bankrupt firms," said Long Guangwei, the court's vice president.

"Online auctions save time and service fees for bidders," he said.

The court took possession of the planes from Jade Cargo International after the foreign-invested company filed for bankruptcy in 2013.

The planes had been put up for auction offline six times since October 2015, with each deal falling through. The court decided to put them up for sale on Taobao's auction platform in September.

Almost all Chinese courts have registered on Taobao's judicial sales platform since the launch of the service in 2012.

More than 330,000 objects have been auctioned on the platform for a total of 460 billion yuan (about $69.6 billion).

"Online auctions help transparency in legal affairs because all information is there for all to see," said Weixing.