Having failed to reach an agreement with the bank, Wu Yuanjing is now seeking 2.915 million yuan (US$351,200) in compensation. The Luwan District People's Court held the first hearing in the case on Friday.

Wu Yuanjing had deposited 10 paintings at the bank. A sudden flood, caused by the bursting of overhead air-conditioner pipes, inundated its safe-deposit vault center at Hong Kong Plaza on Huaihai Road on January 27. As a result, six paintings were totally dampened and two were partly soaked.

Wu demanded that the bank take full responsibility for the loss, insisting that it didn't inform him beforehand that the safe was not waterproof. Moreover, there was no guard at the safe-deposit vault center at night.

The bank argued back.

"There are guards patrolling the building round-the-clock and there is no rule stipulating that the safe must be waterproof," said Huang Chen, an official from BOC's local branch.

The bank said it signs an agreement with each of its safe-deposit vault customers that it will pay 5,000 yuan in case of any accident resulting in damage.

"If valuables are kept in the safe, we advise our clients to buy insurance for them," said Huang.

The bank has not purchased insurance policies for the thousands of safety boxes in the city due to the insurers' difficulty in assessing the value of deposited goods, to which only their owners have access.

The bank claimed that Wu was asking for too much, adding that during previous negotiations it had agreed to pay him an extra 45,000 yuan.

"The problem lies in evaluating the dampened works. There is no official source to give an objective appraisal," said Cao Yun, a court spokesman.

In fact, Wu's request was based on the evaluation of the Shanghai Gongmei Auction House, which assessed the financial loss at 2.755 million yuan.

(eastday.com June 10, 2003)