In May 2020, Sichuan Trust disclosed about a 20 billion yuan deficit. Later, the deficit was estimated to be as much as 30 billion yuan.[1]
Sichuan Trust's financial difficulty started when the Chinese government began restricting new sales of trust products in 2020, which caused a loss of new incoming revenue from new investors so Sichuan Trust could not pay its debts.[2]
According to Diana Choyleva, chief economist at Enodo Economics, Sichuan Trust was the earliest to fail during the Chinese economic configuration.[1][3]
In 2021, police arrested Liu Canglong, Sichuan Trust's majority shareholder, who was a mining and real estate tycoon and was once the richest man in Sichuan province for embezzling trust funds.[2]
In January, several investors contacted China's National Administration of Financial Regulation to find out what assets were underlying the investments but were told that the information was a "state secret".[3]