The decision to suspend the business licence of a company which sold plots of land on the Moon has been upheld by the Beijing industrial and commercial watchdog at a public hearing discussion.

Reports said the company, known as "Lunar Embassy," sold sites of 298 yuan (US$37) an acre.

Li Jie, head of the firm, said he was fully confident of winning a lawsuit against the watchdog, rejecting all allegations during the hearing.

Officials from the Chaoyang District Administration of Industry and Commerce ruled land on the Moon belongs to the whole world and that no single individual or unit has the right to own, allocate or handle it.

"The selling of land on the Moon by the Lunar Embassy to its clients is a kind of fraud," officials said. "To own a piece of land on the Moon accords with no articles of national regulations and policies in China it is nothing but a beautiful dream."

But Li, chief executive officer of Beijing Lunar Village Aeronautics Science and Technology Co Ltd, said: "They don't have enough evidence to make the ruling."

He stressed his business activities did not violate any laws.

Because the Chinese Government claims no sovereignty of the moon, it does not have the right of jurisdiction or restrict the selling of property assets on it, said Li in his application to the public hearing.

"In fact, there is not a law or regulation in China that prohibits the selling of land on the Moon," he said.

The industrial and commercial watchdog agency in Chaoyang District suspended the company's business licence on October 28 on grounds of speculation and profiteering, reports said.

(China Daily December 7, 2005)