Billionaire's extensions to be dismantled

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-27 11:07

Sun Yingui's neighbor Li Tianlong looks at the illegally expanded villa in Shangzhuang town, Haidian district.

A Beijing billionaire, who illegally expanded his luxury villa because he could not handle the sound of his neighbor's air conditioning system, says he is upset that extensions on the multi-million-yuan property will be demolished.

Sun Yingui, 53, who was ranked 23rd among the first Forbes list of 30 Chinese billionaires in 1993, began illegally expanding his 600-sq-m villa in Shangzhuang town, Haidian district on July 18.

Meng Jingyi, a press officer at the Haidian district urban administration department, said the renovations were illegal and the extensions would be demolished.

According to the Town and Country Planning Act, property owners are not allowed to expand without a construction permit.

"There are several local government departments cooperating on the compulsory demolition order. We haven't agreed on an exact date for demolition but we are actively working on it," Meng said.

Sun, the general manager of Bailong Group Enterprise, worth an estimated 1 billion yuan, said he was disappointed the 7.1 million yuan villa would be torn down and added that there were illegal renovations on many of the surrounding properties.

"I expanded my villa because I can't bear the air conditioning noises from my neighbor Li's home," Sun told Beijing Youth Daily. "I suffered insomnia for almost 30 years and am very sensitive to noise, so the renovations would have helped keep out noise."

Sun's neighbor Li Tianlong said construction workers had already begun work underneath the villa and planned to turn it into a three-story complex. The renovation had also narrowed public space between their two villas from 10 to three meters, he said.

"I've already invited professionals to adjust my air conditioning and the noise is under 50 decibels which is within the legal limit," said the 37-year-old Chinese Indonesian man.

"When I pass Sun's villa, I'm so worried that I may accidentally be hit by a falling object, and then there is the noise from the construction, even at night.

"When expansion work has finished on Sun's villa, there will be an additional 270-sq-m over three-floors and it will affect the amount of sun light and ventilation in my home."

Li said he complained to the local government and was told by chengguan officers on Monday that they had received orders to demolish the property.

He saw two teams of chengguan taking photographs during an investigation of the property on Tuesday.

"There are about ten percent of the villa owners in Cuihu community expanding their houses, but Sun is the first one who made the expansion in an east-west direction which means the public space between his and his neighbor's is reduced," said Li.