Misleading: US Consulate General’s auction is routine, not a sign of closure

14 April 2025

Regular auctions of surplus property are standard practice at U.S. consulates and embassies globally. The Shenyang consulate has conducted several such auctions over the past eight years.

On April 10, an X post shared a screenshot of the U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang’s Weibo account announcing an auction of second-hand U.S. furniture scheduled for May 20. The post claimed that the consulate was closing soon.

The claim has since been circulated by multiple accounts on X and other Chinese social media platforms, including Xiaohongshu (also known as Rednote) and Weibo, garnering thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.

While the screenshot of the auction announcement (archived here) is authentic, Annie Lab found that such auctions are held regularly.

The same day the rumor began spreading on X, the U.S. Consulate General stated on Weibo (archived here) in English that: “The U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang holds regular auctions to clear out items we no longer need, as shown in our Weibo post last year about the auction. Thank you for your attention and spread of this auction, which quickly became a hot topic!”

A keyword search of the text in the post revealed more Weibo announcements from the same consulate about similar auctions in previous years, including July and November 2017, August 2018, May 2021 and July 2024.

This practice is not unique to the Shenyang consulate but is common among U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. For example, the Consulates General in Guangzhou and Hong Kong held auctions in 2022 and 2024, respectively (archived here and here).

Annie Lab identified a U.S. State Department website dedicated to online auctions conducted by embassies and consulates.

These auctions are routine administrative procedures and do not indicate that any given consulate or embassy is closing.

The screenshot from the official U.S Embassy Online Auction website, showing the lots in auction and hours to closure for the auctions holding in U.S. Embassies in different countries. — The official U.S Embassy Online Auction website (archived here) shows ongoing auctions at embassies worldwide, including Ukraine, India and Italy.

The auctioning of excess personal property at U.S. consulates operates under clear guidelines outlined in the Foreign Affairs Manual (archived here).

These guidelines standardize such sales as routine administrative processes for managing surplus assets like furniture and equipment.

According to the manual, “if foreign excess personal property is not disposed of by transfer or return to the United States, it may be sold if in the best interest of the U.S. Government.”