(Yicai Global) Jan. 26 -- South Korean automaker SsangYong Motor has completely closed its business in China and backed out of the market after filing for bankruptcy protection in a Seoul court last month.

The carmaker mired in operating difficulties has completed the asset sale of SsangYong Motor Shanghai, per a filing SsangYong submitted to the court yesterday, Yicai Global learned from a source in the know.

SsangYong has terminated the real estate leases of all its China offices and sold “almost all” its fixed and non-fixed assets as a link in the overall asset sale plan of the bankrupt-again company, a company insider exclusively told Yicai Global, which sought to contact SsangYong Motor Shanghai via a publicly-listed telephone number, but found it had been deactivated.

SAIC Motor purchased a 48.92 percent stake in SsangYong for approximately USD500 million in 2004, afterwards raising its stake to 51.33 percent to become its largest shareholder.

This cooperation fizzled, however, and SsangYong filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, forcing SAIC to give up all its shares in the South Korean automaker. SsangYong Motor Shanghai became SsangYong’s sales agent in China, but its operations long ran in the red.

SsangYong Motor Shanghai’s assets had dropped to KRW600 million (USD544,800) as of the end of September, a steep decline from the KRW7 billion (USD6.4 million) in its heyday, according to South Korea’s official Financial Supervisory Service.

India's largest auto conglomerate Mahindra Group bought 70 percent of SsangYong's shares in 2011 to wrest absolute control of it. However, SsangYong filed for bankruptcy protection again in December after it yet again failed to extricate itself from its operating crunch amid sluggish sales, limited research and development funds, and the influence of other factors.

A major South Korean car producer, SsangYong is known for its sports utility vehicles. It ranked third in domestic demand and export sales in its prime, after Hyundai Motor and Kia.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Ben Armour, Xiao Yi