Last month, when shareholders of Chinese solar company Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd. approved a $500 million acquisition of bankrupt Wuxi Suntech Power Co., it was the end of what was once the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer.
Many observers hailed it as a groundbreaking example of the Chinese government allowing a leading company to succumb to market forces. “Those who still think Chinese companies will never fail because the government will always send a check need to change their minds,” says Wang Xinxin, a bankruptcy law professor at Renmin University in Beijing. “This case clearly shows those days are gone.”
