Coal miner's daughter $11m wedding denied

A rich coal tycoon has refuted reports he spent 70 million yuan ($11 million) on a lavish wedding for his daughter.

Xing Libin, reported to be on one of the wealthiest men in Shanxi province and the board chairman of Liansheng Group, was accused of spending the exorbitant amount of money on the ceremony including a grand gala staged by famous performers and singers, booking out several five-star hotels and three chartered planes to transport the guests.

But in an interview with Global People magazine the energy company boss denied the accuracy of the report, adding: "It's not a sin to be rich."

He said the wedding ceremony was combined with two other activities: an opening ceremony of a property project for his company in Hainan province and the company's 10th anniversary.

"I've no idea how the figure of 70 million come about," he said before displaying files to a reporter and adding "you see, this is the appropriation analysis of the ceremony, 150 million with the contract and invoice attached. In fact, I've just got to know how much the expenditure was from the files I got."

Answering reports that in 2002 he bought State-owned Xingwu Coal Company for much lower than its real value, he said the actual cost was 580 million yuan, including a cash payment of 80 million, 193 million debt and 310 million in payments for resources.