Distinctive Features of Controlling Shareholders’ Liability to the Company and Other Shareholders under Chinese Corporate Law

Within the framework of the study examining the mechanisms for holding controlling shareholders liable for damage caused to the corporation and its other shareholders, the author arrives at the following conclusions: (1) Chinese legislation and corporate law doctrine departure from the categories of a “minority” and “majority” shareholder that are being replaced by the concepts of “controlling” and “non-controlling” shareholder; (2) The principal grounds for imposing liability on controlling shareholders towards the corporation and/or other participants are as follows: the abuse of rights, violation of law, the corporation’s charter, or administrative regulations for the purpose of causing harm to the corporation and/or other shareholders; the use of affiliated relationships with other entities to the detriment of the corporation; giving instructions to executives and directors with the intent of inducing them to take actions harmful to the corporation’s interests; (3) Chinese corporate law provides for the possibility for non-controlling shareholders to bring direct claims against controlling shareholders.

1. Van Tszyanven. Ob osnovakh i sposobakh vvedeniya fidutsiarnykh obyazannostey kontroliruyushchikh aktsionerov v zakonodatelstvo Kitaya // Sravnitelno-pravovye issledovaniya. — 2020. — № 1. — S. 93–105

2. Grazhdanskiy kodeks Kitayskoy Narodnoy Respubliki / otv. red. P. V. Troshchinskiy. — M.: Sinosfera, 2020. — 448 s.

3. Lyu Tszyunkhay. Ob otvetstvennosti kontroliruyushchikh aktsionerov i kontroliruyushchikh lits, zloupotreblyayushchikh korporativnym kontrolem, pered uyazvimymi aktsionerami // Yuridicheskiy forum. — 2022. — № 2. — S. 81–97

4. Peregovory v grazhdanskom prave i tsivilisticheskom protsesse: monografiya / R. Yu. Bannikov, O. I. Velichkova, E. A. Evtukhovich [i dr.]; pod red. E. I. Nosyrevoy, D. G. Filchenko. — M.: Statut, 2023. — 272 s.

5. Pokrovskiy I. A. Osnovnye problemy grazhdanskogo prava. — 8-e izd. — M.: Statut, 2020. — 351 s.

6. Chen Dzeshi. Sistemnoe osmyslenie regulirovaniya deyatelnosti fakticheskogo kontrolera s tochki zreniya korporativnogo prava // Zhurnal Pekinskogo tekhnologicheskogo instituta (Obshchestvennye nauki), № (24)5, 2022. — S. 59–70.

7. Chzhao Syudun. Kontroliruyushchie aktsionery v korporativnom upravlenii i ikh pravovoe polozhenie // Pravovye issledovaniya. — 2020. — № 4. — S. 92–108.

8. Chzhao Syudun, Lyu Bin. Primenenie novogo zakona o kompaniyakh i interpretatsiya del, opublikovannykh Verkhovnym Narodnym Sudom KNR // Yuridicheskaya pressa. — 2024. — S. 61–62.

9. Yan Tyanfan. Pravovoe regulirovanie korporativnogo upravleniya v RF i KNR: sravnitelnoe issledovanie: dis. … kand. yurid. nauk. — M., 2022. — 268 s.

10. Yan Tyanfan. Pravovoy mekhanizm kosvennogo iska v Rossii i Kitae: sravnitelnoe issledovanie // Vestnik arbitrazhnoy praktiki. — 2021. — № 5. — S. 91–97.