China releases US inventor before summit

China’s authorities have permitted naturalized US citizen and inventor Hu Zhicheng to leave China and return to the US after five years of barring him from travel outside the country, The Wall Street Journal reported. Hu’s grounding has been part of his legal battle with a Chinese company over automobile emission control technology, according to Facebook messages from family members. While never convicted of a crime in China, Hu was detained in a prison for 17 months, drawing the attention of US diplomats. Hu landed in California Monday, days before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama are to meet in a weekend summit.