No verdict yet in ownership of precious wood

The ownership of a precious piece of wood worth more than 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) remains uncertain after a four-hour trial at a local court in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Nov 28.

The Huaxi Metropolis Daily, a local newspaper in Chengdu, reported on Nov 29 that the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court said the verdict will be handed down at a future date.

Wu Gaoliang, a truck driver in Pengzhou, Sichuan province, said he found a small section of carbonized wood on Feb 1. The wood turned out to be worth of more than 10 million yuan, according to experts' evaluations.

But the government of Tongji township, where the section was found, claimed ownership, saying the wood belongs to the country. The government offered a 70,000-yuan reward to Wu, but Wu refused it, and sued the local government in July.

Carbonized wood is wood that has been hardened from long burial in earth. It has a value of more than 10,000 yuan per cubic meter.