Court hears battle over billionaire's assets

A legal dispute over the inheritance of a billionaire has landed in a local court in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, on Wednesday.

According to the court, Wang Yali, the goddaughter of billionaire Wang Popan, managed to obtain control of two companies owned by her godfather by illegally changing the ownership of the companies after he died in 2008.

Wang Popan's daughters and sons were denied his inheritance and Wang Cuimian, Wang's daughter, reported Wang Yali to authorities.

The goddaughter was the former deputy chief of the Communist Youth League of China in Shijiazhuang. She has been sentenced to 14 years in jail after being convicted of abuse of power and offering bribes.

However, the dispute over Wang Popan's companies and money was not settled by the convictions.

The court did not announce the verdict of the case on Wednesday and the two parties agreed to negotiate a solution outside court.

The billionaire, Wang Popan, played an instrumental role in changing the fortune of Wang from a farmer's daughter to a promising political star after she became his goddaughter in 1989.

Wang was found to have faked all her personal information, including her name, age, education and work experience after she was released from her duties in 2009 and convicted in June 2011.