The husband of an Australian professor, who died during an operation at the hospital where she worked, is demanding 5 million yuan ($732,000) in compensation for his wife's death.

Wang Jianguo will appear in Beijing High Court today, nearly four years after his wife Xiong Zhuowei, who held an Australian passport, died after orthopedic surgery at Peking University First Hospital.

Wang, a marketing professor at Guanghua School of Management, one of China's best business schools, has waged a protracted legal battle for appropriate compensation.