(Yicai Global) Sept. 3 --After a man who rented an apartmentfromonline rental realtor Ziroom Life Beijing Assets Managementdied, Zuo Hui, the board chairman of Ziroom's parent Beijing HomeLink Real Estate Brokerageand a shareholder of Ziroom,saidhis firm acceptsall blame andwill assumeallliability a court may impose.

News broke on the internet on Aug. 31 that an Alibaba's employee surnamed Wang died of acute myeloid leukemia as a result of formaldehyde levels in the room in Hangzhou he rented from Ziroom greatly exceeding safe limits, Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.

Ziroom posted a statement on Sept. 1 thatthis matter was of great significance to it, andithasdirectedits representatives tocontact Wang'srelatives to learn further details andconductfollow up.

Wang, a P7-level Alibaba employee,underwentacomprehensivephysicalcheckandstartedwork withAlibaba in January. Hisexamination reportfoundall his physical indexes normal and within the referencedrange, includingaroutine blood examination.

Wang thenrented an apartment near Alibaba's office from Ziroom, whichhadoriginallybeenamulti-floor unit, but which Ziroomhadlater restructuredthis intoseparateapartments,online reports saidAug. 31.

Wangtold his wife in July that he felt sick.Upon hislaterreturn to Beijing, he hadfurtherexaminationsthatdiagnosedhim withthrombocytopenia-- a low blood platelet count --which was further confirmed as being acute myeloidleukemia, a disease associated with formaldehyde exposure, per information on the website of the US National Institutes of Health.

Hesuccumbed to complicationsof this ailmenton July 13.His wifethen wentto Hangzhou andhadtherentalapartment tested. The resultsshoweditwas tainted withexcessive formaldehyde.Most of thetimeWang was in Hangzhou was inthe southern China city's notoriously sultrysummer,his wife said,andthus hebarely openedthewindowsso as to holdthe air conditioning.

Ziroom respondedonSept. 1that Wanghadmovedinto theapartment on May 18, and on Aug. 24Ziroommanagementreceivedacourt summons and a letter from Wang's lawyer written on Aug. 14,informingthem ofWang'sdeathon July 13 in Beijing. Ziroomhad beenunaware of this incident up until then, it claimed.

The company willassumethe responsibility for compensation once itsliability isconfirmed, saidXiong Lin, Ziroom'schief executive.The case is set to go to trial in Hangzhou Sept. 27.

Alibaba will also follow uponthis issue, it said Sept. 1.The Hangzhou-based tech titanisfurtherclaiming compensation fromitscommercial insurer.The teamto whichthe employee belongedhasalso organized donation activities.

Manytenants haveexperiencedhealth problemsfromexcessive formaldehyde in the rooms they rented from HomeLink or Ziroom,several mediarecentlyreported. Ziroomhasonlyoffered thesethereturn of rent and services charges, andofferedno-faultsurrender of tenancy or freeunitchanges,butnotfull refunds.

Ziroom will suspend leasingof allits newly-remodeledfirst-timerentalunits in nine citiesstartingSept. 1 ,and thesewill becomeavailable again after being verified as qualified by certification bodies recognized by China Metrology Accreditation, the company announcedAug. 31.Nofuture housingunits willon offeruntiltheir confirmationasbeing100 percent up to scratch, and Ziroom will also publishthesequalification reportson its app.

If tenants that leased the first-rental units after June 1 have questions about the air quality of these apartments, they can apply to Ziroom for free air quality tests, the company also stated. If air quality is substandard, renters can surrender the premises or change houses unconditionally, or postpone their move until the air quality is up to snuff after treatment.

Ziroomalso made news lately when the Beijinghousingcommissionand the city's banking, finance and tax regulators jointly called a meeting withitand otherleading rentaloperators on Aug. 17 after media reports that some individual rental service providers have been pushing up prices tovacuumupvacant flats.

Editor: Ben Armour