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Foxconn has reduced the claim from 30 million yuan to just 1 yuan and has asked for the two reporters' assets to be unfrozen, having previously persuaded the court to block access to assets including apartments, a car and bank accounts belonging to Wang You and Weng Bao, respectively a reporter and editor at the China Business News.

'This is a victory for Chinese media,' Weng said. It is not clear what persuaded Foxconn to relent, although the China Business News has promised complete backing for its employees, who also received millions of messages of support from around the world.

Apple, having failed with its own efforts to silence journalists, said yesterday that it was working to resolve the dispute, and it looks that it had some success.

Reporters Without Borders, an international free press campaign, had written to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, urging him to intervene.

'We believe than all Wang and Weng did was report the facts and we condemn Foxconn's reaction,' Reporters Without Borders' secretary-general wrote in the letter to Jobs. 'We therefore ask you to intercede on behalf of these two journalists so that their assets are unfrozen and the lawsuit is dropped.'