Shanghai's Xuhui District People's Court Friday heard a divorce action that involves more than 70 million yuan (US$10.26 million) worth of property - the largest such case ever to come before the court.

Xu Shantai, 52, a Zhejiang Province native, asked the court for a fair distribution of the property, including two companies and 12 apartments, accusing his wife of betraying their marriage. His wife, Shen Aifen, 50, said she's entitled to the major share of their net worth.

The two parties are mainly fighting over a company in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, that is highly profitable and valued at nearly 50 million yuan at present.

The defendant didn't attend the hearing. Her lawyer asked to conduct the session in private, and the court agreed.

After the hearing, Xu said in an interview that he met Shen, an unemployed and very pretty woman, in 1988 and couldn't help falling in love with her even though he was married.

Xu, who owned two companies, divorced his wife in 1991 and began living with Shen. They had a daughter in 1996 and registered their marriage in March 2001. Shen also participated in developing the business.

The couple registered a company in Ningbo in December 2000 with the profits Xu had accumulated from his other businesses, which he shut down. Shen was registered as the legal representative of the company, Xu said.

"I loved her so much that I didn't care who was the nominal boss of the company. I would give her anything as long as she didn't leave me," Xu said.

He said he even transferred the management rights of the firm to his wife last year to show his love.

But on June 16, 2007, Xu said he found a message on his wife's mobile phone that indicated she had a lover. Just a day before, Xu gave his wife a Mercedes-Benz sedan valued at 1.65 million yuan as a gift for her 50th birthday.

"I asked her to return to the family and told her I would forgive her for the sake of the family and our daughter," Xu said.

But on June 23, 2007, Shen asked for divorce and cut off Xu's income since the company was under her control.

Shen said the company was her property since it was formed before they got married and she was the legal representative.

Xu insisted that he was the real investor of the company, however.

The couple also own a company in Shanghai with an investment of 11 million yuan. They agreed to equally divide shares of that company as it was registered after their marriage.

They also are arguing over the ownership of three apartments valued around 5 million yuan. Shen is registered as the property owner of all three apartments while Xu said he was the person who made payments on the flats before their marriage. They agreed to equally divide the value of the apartments bought after marriage.

Xu wants the court to award him the property he had amassed before the marriage and split the rest. A verdict was not reached Friday. The judges said the case is complicated because the couple lived together for a long time before they married.

(Shanghai Daily September 27, 2008)