--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
SCI-TECH
ENVIRONMENT
LIFE
PEOPLE
TRAVEL
WEEKLY REVIEW
Learning Chinese
Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes
Exchange Rates


Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies


Firm Told to Pay Off Defaulted Three Tenors Concert Rent
The Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court yesterday issued a final judgment ordering the China National Culture and Art Company to pay 1 million yuan (US$121,000) to the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) in rent for the Three Tenors concert of June 2001.

The judgment in the appeal reaffirmed the first sentence issued by the Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court in September last year.

The culture company signed an agreement with the Palace Museum on June 13, 2001, 10 days before the concert. The agreement said the company should pay fee of 2 million yuan (US$242,000) to the museum in two installments for occupying Wumen Square in the Forbidden City, according to the court's written ruling issued yesterday.

However, the company had only paid the museum 1 million yuan (US$121,000) as of this month.

Yang Wenjun, the company's lawyer and the defendant in the first instance of the case, said: "It (the reason the company did not pay the rest of the money) is because an unfair agreement was signed, taking advantage of my company's precarious position."

He said the company felt obliged to comply with the museum's requirements because the museum would not let the 1,000 workers and 200 trucks being used by the company to enter the concert site unless the company signed the agreement.

Yang claimed the concert was part of the activities involved in Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games and said it was against the public interest to take his company to court.

In the appeal, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court reaffirmed the decision of the Dongcheng District People's Court that the company did not provide sufficient proof of Yang's claim that the agreement had been signed under duress.

Both parties of a contract should fulfill their commitments, said Zhang Lei, the judge. The culture company could not refuse to pay the rental fee just because it considered that fee to be too high, added Zhang.

The judgment in the appeal was made according to the Civil Procedure Law of China, Zhang explained.

Huang Zhejing, the Palace Museum's representative, said: "I am satisfied with the final judgment."

(China Daily February 27, 2003)

Calls for Palace Museum Facelift Hearings Rejected
China Building Digitized Forbidden City
Three Tenors Stage a Gala Show in Beijing
Celebrities to Attend World Three Top Tenors' Concert
Three Tenors Program Revealed
40 Percent of Tickets for Three Tenors Concert Booked
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-68326688