Sanlu officially bankrupt in wake of melamine contamination

Posted by Isobel Drake on 13th February 2009

Sanlu, the company at the centre of the recent melamine scandal in China, has been declared bankrupt by a Chinese court.

The Intermediate People’s Court of Shijiazhuang issued the bankruptcy order at the first meeting of Sanlu’s creditors yesterday.

Sanlu Group debts had climbed above the value of their assets in the wake of the scandal, with the group forced to borrow 902 million yuan (A$201 million) to pay the medical fees of children made ill by its melamine tainted baby formula and to compensate victims, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Last month the company’s former Chairwoman, Tian Wenhua, received a life sentence for her part in the scandal which tragically resulted in the deaths of at least 6 infants and made another 300,000 ill. Three former executives of the dairy firm also received jail terms.