A fugitive Chinese auto tycoon will withdraw his lawsuit in the United States in which he sued the Liaoning Province government for illegally seizing his assets worth US million. He will try to settle the dispute through an out-of-court agreement with the help of a Hong Kong professor mediating.

　　Larry Lang, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and chair professor of finance at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, announced last week that he would act as an independent mediator between the provincial government and Yang Rong, former chairman of automaker Brilliance China Automotive Holdings. He is currently wanted by the Chinese government for allegations of economic crime.

　　"As a sign of giving me full authority to handle this confrontation and showing friendliness to the (Liaoning) government, Yang accepted my suggestion of dropping the case," Lang said yesterday in Shanghai.

　　"The ball is with Liaoning now, but they haven't replied yet."

　　Earlier this month, Yang filed a lawsuit in Washington DC to recoup his wealth that he claimed was illegally seized by Liaoning government, hiring Jim Slattery, a former US congressman, as his attorney.

　　The dispute between Yang and the government is rooted in his unclarified ownership of the Chinese Finance Education Development Foundation, which controlled 39.5 percent of Liaoning-based Brilliance China - a listed company on the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges.

　　When Yang participated in the founding of Brilliance China in the early 1980's, no one was allowed to join a state-owned firm as a private investor. He came in as a representative of the so-called foundation.

　　Though Yang claimed he owned 99 percent of the foundation, this was not acknowledged by Liaoning Province.

　　They tried to arrest Yang in the middle of last year when he sold a percentage of the stakes in Brilliance China.

　　He transferred the money to his own account overseas.

　　Liaoning Province bought those stakes under the foundation for a price of HK.6 million (US million), which was 93 percent discounted on the price of the shares when the plan was announced.