Sign that entrepreneurs' rights are better protected

China's top court has overturned the guilty verdict handed down to the founder and former chairman of Wumei Holdings Group almost 10 years ago.

Zhang Wenzhong was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud, embezzlement and bribery in a final ruling by Hebei High People's Court in 2009. The Supreme People's Court has overturned that verdict citing insufficient evidence and wrongful application of the law by the lower-level court after a retrial was granted in answer to Zhang's appeal in 2016.

In its statement, the supreme court said there was no evidence Zhang had appropriated funds for his own benefit, adding that the earlier rulings had "made errors".