bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Samuel Yeung

A bid by controversial mainland tycoon Yang Rong to recover personal investments he claimed in Brilliance China Automotive Holdings has been thrown out by the Beijing Higher People's Court.

According to an official notice obtained by the South China Morning Post,  the court rejected the civil lawsuit filed by the company's former chairman against the Liaoning government.

The decision was made after the provincial police department sent the court 'materials relevant to the case, which allegedly involves economic crimes', according to the court notice.

Since China's laws stipulated that 'economic crimes' and 'economic disputes' were governed by two different regimes, the court said it would transfer the case back to the police department.

The court's decision appears to signal the end of Mr Yang's bid to claim his stake in the mainland car maker.

Mr Yang was once ranked the third-richest man in China - behind Yang Bin, the country's second-richest man, who was recently arrested for suspected economic crimes.

Mr Yang founded an investment empire that included two Hong Kong-listed firms - Brilliance China Automotive and Compass Pacific Holdings - as well as the Shanghai-listed Shanghai Shen Hua Holdings.

He fled to the United States in May for fear of his 'personal safety'.

In October, he filed the civil case accusing the government of trying to 'secretly and summarily' take over the company's full ownership without paying compensation.

Shortly after, the Liaoning government issued a warrant for Mr Yang's arrest on charges of suspected 'economic crimes', which Mr Yang claimed were fabricated.

In a reply to the court, Wang Hai, Mr Yang's legal representative, said he was shocked by its decision.

'It perverts the basic principle of rule of law and thus is hardly convincing,' Mr Wang wrote.

He said the court's decision compromised its judicial dignity by obeying the provincial power and refusing to handle the case which it had in fact accepted in October.

The lawsuit was filed by Hua Bo Finance, a Hong Kong-domiciled legal entity controlled by Mr Yang.



Beijing court rejects Yang Rong's bid to claim assets in Brilliance