Lawyers Avon and Bryan Successfully Resolve Dispute for Myanmar Company with Wuxi Company, Recovering Over USD 80000

In 2023, a Myanmar company had a contractual dispute with a metal supplier in Wuxi, China. The Myanmar company sought legal support from the legal team of Lawyer Larry Zhou at Landing (Shenzhen) Law Office, appointing Lawyer Avon Zhao and Lawyer Bryan Zhang to handle the case.

The Myanmar buyer and the Wuxi supplier had agreed in the contract that the total purchase amount of the goods would exceed USD 120000. The Myanmar buyer paid the full amount and also commissioned a third-party inspection agency to inspect the cargo and supervise the loading at the loading port.

However, the Chinese supplier unilaterally changed the freight forwarder and, astonishingly, after the buyer's representative had completed the supervision of loading and weighing, the supplier privately opened the containers and removed some goods. This resulted in a shortage of nearly 50% of the goods upon arrival at the destination port.

Fortunately, under the advice and guidance of the lawyers, the buyer had prepared in advance for the receipt of the goods. They worked with the customs authorities, the shipowner's representative, and the third-party inspection agency to complete the overall weighing and weighing of the containers at the destination port, obtaining comprehensive evidence collection.

After being sued by the Myanmar buyer, the Chinese supplier denied its "replacement of goods" and claimed that "the risk transferred after the cargo left the port," refusing to take responsibility for the shortage of goods.

Before the lawsuit, our lawyers assisted the Myanmar client in thoroughly organizing and collecting evidence, focusing on proving two key points: First, the involved containers had SGS seals at the loading port, but the seals were missing upon arrival at the destination port. Second, the containers were weighed both as a whole and individually in multiple states, including before and after opening, with the weight data from each stage submitted. By comparing the data before and after shipment, it was ultimately proven that the supplier had tampered with the seals and removed the goods during transportation, resulting in a severe shortage of the goods.

The Chinese court ultimately accepted the key evidence we submitted, determined that the Chinese supplier had committed a malicious breach of contract, and ruled that the supplier refund the payment for the missing goods, amounting to approximately USD 60000, as well as pay for the breach of contract penalty, interest, and legal fees.

After the judgment took effect, the Chinese supplier proposed mediation multiple times. However, the offered amount was too low and their attitude was poor, making it difficult for the buyer to accept.

Due to the supplier's delay in fulfilling the judgment debt, not only did the debt amount fail to decrease, but the supplier also incurred additional interest for the delay in performance. Our lawyers immediately applied for enforcement, and ultimately recovered approximately USD 87000 for the Myanmar buyer. The Myanmar company highly recognized the outcome.