Shouting a friendly greeting could be expensive in China after a county court ordered a man to pay almost 20,000 yuan (2,500 U.S. dollars) for causing a friend to crash his bicycle.

The ruling in the eastern Jiangxi Province has become the subject of debate over the degree of responsibility that should be attributed to the cyclist and the friend.

Li Zhiwang, 34, of the Tangjiacun Village, at Shikou Township in Yugan County, was ordered to pay 18,880 yuan in compensation to 31-year-old Zhang Ping from a neighboring village because his friendly greeting had sent Zhang to hospital, the People's Court of Yugan County ruled.

Li saw Zhang passing by on a road near Tangjiacun on Aug. 26, when Zhang was taking a large load of vegetables by bike to a fair in Shikou Township.  Li called out "Zhang Ping" loudly to catch his attention, the court heard.

Zhang turned his head to look for the caller and lost control of his bike, falling to the ground.

Zhang was treated at a local hospital for a fractured wrist, which cost 23,600 yuan.

He decided to sue Li for compensation.

The court ruled that Li's loud greeting was the main cause of Zhang's injuries, so Li should bear 80 percent of the costs.

Li said he thought the ruling was unfair, but did not lodge an appeal.

Jiang Qingping, a judge at the court, told Xinhua on Tuesday that the ruling was based on Articles 106 and 119 of the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China.

"Citizens and legal persons who through their own fault encroach upon state or collective property or the property or person of other people shall bear civil liability," Article 106 says.

"Anyone who infringes upon a citizen's person and causes him physical injury shall pay his medical expenses and his loss in income due to missed working time and shall pay him living subsidies if he is disabled," Article 119 says.

However, Zong Zhixiang, a local lawyer and associate professor of the School of Politics and Law at Jiangxi Normal University, disagreed with the ruling.

"The ruling is questionable. Li himself was not at fault nor did he violate regulations or break the law when he shouted Zhang's name," he told Xinhua.

"However, he interfered with Zhang's cycling. Therefore, if he must bear liability, he should bear no more than 50 percent of it according to the fair liability principle," he said.