Jolene Chen
In addition to cases that are similar to those the previous two batches concerning enforcement against enterprises over pandemic prevention and control materials, the 13 cases in this third batch also contain examples of enterprises not in the pandemic prevention and control materials business resuming work and production. The cases fully shows how the courts used the Internet and telephones to coordinate and negotiate enforcement during the epidemic, thereby keeping public order, minimizing losses and achieving wins for multiple parties. This article will briefly discuss two enforcement cases below.
A real estate development company in Putian City of Fujian Province was named as the subject of enforcement in 33 enforcement cases with a value of more than RMB 700 million at issue. The cases entered the enforcement phase successively in 2019. It was found that the only asset of the company available for enforcement was a real estate project under its name in the Qingshan subarea of Huangshi in the Licheng District of Putian City, but the project was not completed due to the loss of funding, and the land was deemed as idle after it had not been developed for two years. The stalemate in property disposal coincided with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Putian Intermediate People’s Court of Fujian Province used its best efforts to overcome many difficulties and prevailed through its wisdom and a steady approach, ending with asuccessful auction of the project at the beginning of 2020 for 366,812,800 RMB. Subsequently, the court coordinated online meetings to resolve the fund-raising difficulties for the bidders in a timely manner and effectively facilitated a settlement agreement between 396 online signatories and the buyer, a real estate company in Fujian. In addition, an arrangement was made for the financial institution to refinance and renew the loan for the buyer to resolve the financial risks and allow home buyers to enjoy their homes, wages paid to workers, and enterprises resume their work and production, thereby providing tax revenue to the government and creating a “five-win” effect.
In an enforcement case involving a water company in Jingzhou of Hubei Province, the party subject to the enforcement is a large industrial and domestic sewage processing enterprise that was tasked to treat chemical sewage of the Jingzhou National Economic Development Zone and the domestic sewage of 300,000 residents in the neighboring areas. The enterprise ran out of funding during construction and business expansion, and per an award rendered by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission in arbitration, it was required to repay an investment limited company in Hunan the principal plus interest owed and certain fees for a total of more than 40 million RMB. In the course of enforcement, the Intermediate People’s Court of Jingzhou found that the enterprise was already facing serious operational difficulties and had no other property available for enforcement other than fixed assets. If the bank accounts were seized and the company’s assets auctioned, the company would not be able to sustain its basic operations, and both the treatment of the chemical sewage of the National Jingzhou Economic Development Zone and the treatment of the domestic sewage of the 300,000 residents in the south of the development zone would be seriously affected. Therefore, instead of simply adopting typical enforcement measures such as seizure, attachment and freezing of assets, the court adhered to the principle of “conducting enforcement while guaranteeing production” in dealing with the enterprise subject to enforcement and adopted a strategy after multiple discussions with the Jingzhou Development Zone Management Committee to “promote the transfer of the enterprise’s operational permit and prioritize concluding the case through enforcement settlement, with compulsory enforcement by the court as a back-up solution,” while still safeguarding the rights and interests of the party applying for enforcement. On January 13, 2020, the parties of the case reached an enforcement settlement agreement under the auspices of the Jingzhou Intermediate People’s Court. Although the epidemic subsequently worsened, the personnel in charge of the enforcement were persistent in tracking down the parties, communications and timely supervision, and on January 23, 2020, the enterprise remitted most of the enforcement payment to the court’s enforcement account, with the amount paid in full on March 21, 2020. The court then simultaneously lifted the enforcement measures previously taken against the enterprise, and the enforcement of this case was completed to the satisfaction of all parties.