BEIJING: China copper and zinc reserves auction website has resumed after a temporary breakdown during the online bidding of a second batch of sales on Thursday, a customer service representative of the platform said.

China announced it would release a total of 170,000 tonnes of metals, including copper, aluminium and zinc, from state reserves on Thursday to nonferrous fabricators.

A total of 30,000 tonnes of copper and 50,000 tonnes of zinc is open for public bidding on the platform operated by China Minmetals Corp.

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However, the platform crashed several minutes after auctions started at 9 a.m. Beijing time (0100 GMT), a customer service representative of the platform told Reuters, adding that the system had resumed.

The person did not give the reason for the breakdown.

Auctions in the afternoon session will start at 1 p.m. and go on until 6 p.m. (0500-1000 GMT).