The Guangdong
Provincial High People's Court, an appellate court, has agreed to
hear the largest compensation case ever filed by a citizen against
the government.
Plaintiff Chen Jinhong, an entrepreneur, is claiming
compensation of 170 million yuan (US$20.6 million) from the Foshan
Municipal Bureau of Economy and Trade. He received written
confirmation on Tuesday that the court had accepted his case.
Chen, who has been seeking compensation for eight years and has
a team of 13 lawyers to represent him, said he is confident of the
outcome.
Chen first filed the lawsuit with the Foshan Intermediate
People's Court on April 15, 1996.
In 1986, he had invested 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) in setting up
an interior decoration company, which was attached to the Foshan
Municipal Bureau of Economy and Trade. The bureau removed Chen from
his position with the company in March 1996, when the firm was
worth more than 62 million yuan (US$7.3 million). He lost all power
over his own firm and its subsidiaries.
Chen filed the first lawsuit a month later, but the Foshan
Intermediate People's Court dismissed his claim in June 2000. He
immediately appealed to the Guangdong High People's Court, which
remanded the case to the Foshan intermediate court in July
2001.
The first hearing on Chen's case was held on June 24, 2002.
In November, the court ruled that the Foshan Municipal Bureau of
Economy and Trade had acted illegally to remove Chen from his firm
and he was reinstated, but his entire claim for compensation was
denied.
Chen again appealed, this time to both the Guangdong high court
and the Supreme People's Court. His appeals were denied, but Chen
renewed them after the nation's Constitution was amended earlier
this year. The amendments included clauses specifically protecting
private and individual property.
Lawyer Chen Zijing said that he believes Chen will not win the
amount of money claimed, but does think the award will set a record
for damage claims against the government.
(China Daily August 11, 2004)