Ex-tycoon retried in property rights case

The nation's top court on Wednesday started a public hearing on a high-profile petition involving former business tycoon Gu Chujun.

The case of 58-year-old Gu, former chairman of refrigerator maker Guangdong Kelon Electrical Holdings, is one of the three major controversial cases related to property rights that the Supreme People's Court has decided to reconsider amid the country's efforts to better protect the rights of entrepreneurs.

Gu, who once controlled five listed companies and was ranked by Forbes magazine as China's 20th richest man in 2001, was arrested in 2005 amid accusations of embezzlement of State assets in mergers and acquisitions, as well as falsifying and withholding information of listed companies.