Highest priced table tennis player, Ma Lin, has finally signed with the Shaanxi club, ending the dispute over the club's sky-high bid.

Ma Lin, who is in northeastern China for a warm-up tournament for the upcoming World Team Championships, confirmed that he had signed with the club via fax.

Both Ma Lin and the club are expecting the final approval from the China Table Tennis Association.

Ma hit the country's sports headlines in March when he became the highest-priced player, with 5.01 million yuan (US$625,000) offered by the Shaanxi club during the bidding process.

The club later expressed regret over the sky-high price it had offered and called for another bidding round, but their request was turned down by the Association.

The club failed to sign the star player before the Association's deadline (March 31) for the registration of the new season.

(CRI English?April 11, 2006)