US companies could win lucrative job of cleaning up China's bad debt

Growing participation by foreign investors could relieve pressure on the mainly state-owned firms that so far have been the front-line in dealing with the bad debt problem

One surprising part of the trade deal struck between US President Donald Trump and Beijing is that US investors won a direct shot at the potentially lucrative job of helping China clean up its heap of bad debt.

China is embracing foreign capital as it grapples with a tide of soured debt. Some estimate it to have topped $1 trillion as the trade war weighed on economic growth and a long crackdown on shadow banking choked off liquidity. The Communist Party-ruled nation is trying to instill more discipline in the market as corporate defaults have hit records for two straight years