China’s top court vows to help companies stay afloat amid coronavirus fallout

Delivering his annual report to the legislature, Zhou Qiang says courts must support Beijing’s efforts to revive economy and protect jobs

He also says China’s interests will be ‘resolutely’ defended in response to overseas lawsuits over the pandemic

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Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People’s Court, bows before his speech in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00am, 26 May 2020Updated: 8:00am, 26 May 2020

Helping debt-laden companies stay afloat and resolving contractual disputes are among the top priorities for China’s courts this year, amid the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the country’s top court also said it would defend China’s interests in response to overseas lawsuits against Beijing demanding reparations for the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Delivering his annual report to the legislature on Monday, Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People’s Court, said the courts must support Beijing’s efforts to revive the economy, secure jobs, and ensure that people’s livelihoods and companies survived.

“We will help mediate disputes related to the epidemic, properly apply the rules of force majeure, and steer all contractual parties to jointly share the burden so that we can ride out this difficult time together,” Zhou said.

He pledged that the courts would do their utmost to help small and medium-sized businesses get through the crisis, protect jobs and promote employment. Unwarranted seizure or freezing of the assets of companies facing litigation would be forbidden, he said. The judiciary would also help struggling firms through bankruptcy protection and debt restructuring, but at the same time it would try to make sure those who contracted Covid-19 would not face dismissal without justification.

According to Zhou, bankruptcy protection helped 482 companies get back on their feet last year, and 108,000 jobs at those businesses were kept.