The deal has highlighted the problem of intellectual property ownership
Beijing Hyundai Motor has paid a Zhejiang firm an undisclosed sum for the exclusive rights to the xiandai qiche trademark - the widely accepted Chinese translation for South Korea's Hyundai Motors.
The deal, sealed last year but only made public recently, is a reminder of the problems firms have protecting their intellectual property rights on the mainland.
'Yes, we transferred the trademark to Beijing Hyundai last March,' said Zhuge Yang, assistant to Zhang Pengfei, the chairman of Zhejiang Xiandai Group.
Mr Zhuge said Mr Zhang had spent 100,000 yuan registering the trademark xiandai for 43 products, including cars, in 1996.
Sources familiar with the company estimate Mr Zhang earned about 40 million yuan from the sale of the trademark to Beijing Hyundai and from holding the exclusive rights to it for seven years.
'Beijing Hyundai first contacted Zhejiang Xiandai to talk about buying the trademark after the first [of its] Sonata [models] came off its Beijing production line at the end of 2002,' Mr Zhuge said.