China Trust Default Protesters Recall Zero-Risk Pledges

Defaults in China’s $1.8 trillion trust industry are triggering protests and spurring calls from legal experts for clearer rules on sales of investment products.

Li Taishan, a customer of China Construction Bank Corp., said a saleswoman from the lender in the northern province of Shanxi convinced him to invest 3 million yuan ($484,000) in a trust product with a 10 percent indicated return by calling it risk-free. Two buyers of another failed plan, marketed by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and partially bailed out in January, said salesmen told them it was totally safe, even though documents state there is the chance of losses.