A Guangdong businessman was robbed of 85 kilograms of gold by at least seven armed men around midnight on Saturday in Liaoning Province.

The robbers struck around one o'clock on Saturday after they had successfully kept Lin's car from overtaking the truck which they drove on an expressway for some time, Lin said.

Without any bodyguards with him, the 37-year-old victim drove the gold, worth 8 million yuan (US$966,200) in a Santana-brand car to Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province where it was going to be sold.

Sources with the Liaoning Provincial Department of Public Security said Sunday that the case is still under investigation and the prime suspect has not yet been caught.

Tan Yanxu, a press officer with the department, said the authorities will do their best to crack the criminal case as soon as possible. "I hope the case will not negatively influence the investment environment in Liaoning, a traditional heavy industry base and now in rejuvenation.''

At 1 am on Saturday, Lin drove on the Panhaiying Expressway to Shenyang and he was compelled by a truck to stop at 1 kilometer ahead of the Qikou toll gate, the Shenyang Today newspaper reported.

It is reported that seven masked armed men got out of the truck, broke the windows of Lin's car, and pulled him out.

The robbers then stole the gold from Lin's car without touching any other valuables. The victim was struck hard by them and fainted, sources said.

It is said that the two mobile phones Lin carried were destroyed by the robbers, who also punctured his car tyres before leaving.

(China Daily January 5, 2004)