A Chinese infrastructure tycoon who is suing local governments for allegedly failing to pay their construction bills said on Monday that he had reached settlement agreements totalling about Rmb700m ($113m).

Yan Jiehe, founder of the Nanjing-based China Pacific Construction Group, sued six local governments in January for debts totalling more than Rmb900m. But repayment agreements have now been hammered out with four of the debtors according to Mr Yan, who vowed to pursue the other two administrations in Hunan and Shandong provinces, which owe more than Rmb200m, to China’s Supreme People’s Court “if needed”.

“Our lawsuits put a lot of pressure on the governments,” Mr Yan said at a media briefing in Shanghai. “It means that the rule of law really works. I see great hope for China.”