Xiaocheng Du

Practice Areas

As the Managing Partner of JunHe LLP's Xi'an Office, Attorney Du Xiaocheng has delivered outstanding performance across all dimensions including handling complex cases, market development, team management, client services and brand building. With many years of legal practice, he has advised on hundreds of significant, difficult and complex civil and commercial litigation cases before the Supreme People's Court and higher people's courts nationwide, as well as arbitration cases with major arbitration institutions. His practice spans a diverse range of areas including energy and new energy, corporate equity and governance, banking and finance, execution objections, construction engineering, and complex commercial contract disputes. He has amassed profound professional expertise, particularly in the energy sector and in resolving high-value commercial disputes.

Attorney Du has represented clients in numerous cases of notable industry influence and regional representativeness, fully demonstrating his exceptional capability in addressing complex legal issues. Among his recent representations, in the energy and mineral resources sector, he secured a favorable judgment for one of China’s largest proven high-quality thermal and chemical coalfields in a RMB 1 billion financial loan contract dispute. He also successfully represented a Xinjiang-based energy group in a RMB 200 million contract dispute, obtaining a retrial and a reversed judgment in the Supreme People's Court. Additionally, he has an impressive track record in corporate governance and major contract disputes, having successfully represented clients in a host of significant and complex contentious matters with excellent outcomes for all parties involved.

With his consummate professional skills and astute litigation strategies, Attorney Du has earned high recognition from clients for his professional competence and client-centric service approach. In terms of brand building, he adopts a long-term perspective: by organizing high-end legal forums, actively participating in industry events and driving strategic collaborations, he has effectively elevated the industry influence of JunHe’s Xi'an Office both regionally and nationally. Under his leadership, the office has achieved steady and sustained business growth, emerging as a benchmark in the legal services market of Northwest China.

Career

Lawyer's practice license of the People's Republic of China

Languages Spoken

Mandarin Chinese (native)

Professional Memberships

Vice President, Shaanxi Energy Law Research Association

Standing Director, Xi'an Lawyers Association

Director, Civil and Commercial Litigation Legal Professional Committee, Xi'an Lawyers Association

Deputy Director, Environmental, Resources and Energy Law Professional Committee, Shaanxi Lawyers Association

Publications

Case Study on Litigation Involving New Energy Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects；

Practical Legal Handbook for the Investment and Construction of New Energy Power Generation Projects；

A Series of Legal Analyses and Dispute Resolution Schemes for Common Disputes in Energy-Related Litigation；

Analysis of Practical Issues in the Compulsory Enforcement of Equity Interests；

Research on Hot Legal Issues in Disputes Concerning Civil Compulsory Enforcement Procedures；

Interpretation of Remedy Paths and Key Litigation Practice Points for Infringement of Minority Shareholders' Rights and Interests under the New Company Law

Personal

Adjunct Professor, Northwest University of Political Science and Law

Clients

Yanchang Shell Petroleum Co., Ltd.

Shaanxi Investment Group Co., Ltd.

China Huadian Shaanxi Energy Co., Ltd.

Xinjiang Energy (Group) Oil and Natural Gas Co., Ltd.

Xi'an Lanxiao Technology New Materials Co., Ltd.

Shendong Coal Branch, China Shenhua Energy Co., Ltd.

Shaanxi Baotian Construction Group Co., Ltd.

Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd.

Shenmu Junneng Clean Energy Co., Ltd.

Bandingliangta Coal Mine, Daliuta Town, Shenmu City

Work Highlights

1. Shaanxi Shenneng Qian'an Coal Chemical Mining Co., Ltd. v. Liujiamao Coal Mine, Shapo Village, Sunjiacha Town, Shenmu City (Claim Amount Exceeding RMB 2 Billion)

This case is a typical tort damage compensation dispute arising from a work safety accident between coal mining enterprises. The Work Safety Committee of the State Council supervised the accident disposal in person, making it a high-profile case in the energy production area of northern Shaanxi. The case involves a large number of professional terms and industry-specific knowledge, as well as issues such as the investigation and disclosure of administrative information by competent government departments, and the impact of criminal case proceedings on civil litigation. It also entails complex professional legal issues including ascertaining the causal relationship between losses and the accident, determining the proportion of fault and causal force of both parties, and verifying and calculating the amount of losses. Thanks to the strenuous efforts of the representation team, the case achieved a loss reduction of more than RMB 3 billion successfully.

2. China National Chemical Engineering Group Co., Ltd. v. Yulin Dehou Mining Construction Co., Ltd. (Dispute over Enforcement Objection Litigation; Claim Amount Approximately RMB 90 Million)

This case was selected into the Adjudication Rules of the Sixth Circuit Court of the Supreme People's Court. The core dispute lies in the interpretation and application of Article 19 of the Provisions on Modification and Supplement of Parties and Article 18 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Company Law (III). At that time, it was unclear whether shareholders who transferred their shares prior to the expiration of their subscription period were obligated to make up the capital contribution under the limited subscription system. The Supreme People's Court ruled in this case that shareholders who transferred their shares before the expiration of the subscription period shall not be jointly and severally liable for the company's unsatisfied debts, unless such shareholders have the malicious intent to evade capital contribution obligations or have made a zero actual contribution and set an excessively long subscription period. Subsequently, Article 88 of the new Company Law enacted in 2024 also adopted this view.

3. Baoxin International Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. v. Jiangyou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine & Third Party Beijing Remote Cardiology Hospital Management Co., Ltd., et al. (Financial Leasing Contract Dispute)

The total claim amount of this series of cases exceeds RMB 10 billion. After deliberation by the Adjudication Committee for Civil and Administrative Trials of the Supreme People's Court, a ruling was issued to order the Higher People's Court of Shaanxi Province to retry the case. This case constitutes a judicial application of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China and its judicial interpretations, which supplements and improves the evaluation method for the consideration relationship under financial leasing contracts. It also revises the one-size-fits-all approach adopted in previous adjudications, whereby a financial leasing company would no longer bear obligations for the delivery of leased assets once it had completed the payment of the purchase price. This case shall serve as an important precedent for similar disputes and the entire financial leasing industry.

4. China Huadian Shaanxi Energy Co., Ltd. v. Shaanxi Huabin Coal Industry Co., Ltd. & Binxian Coal Co., Ltd. (Dispute over Profit Distribution; Claim Amount Approximately RMB 400 Million)

Article 15 of the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Company Law (IV) has creatively established the litigation for compulsory profit distribution. However, this provision only sets forth general principles and fails to clarify the criteria for determining that shareholders abuse their rights to cause the company to refuse profit distribution, including how to identify the act of shareholders' abuse of rights, the causal relationship between such abusive acts and the refusal to distribute profits, and the boundary of judicial intervention in corporate autonomy. Although this case was concluded through mediation, it still provides a reference path for the remedy of minority shareholders when they are unable to form a profit distribution resolution due to the abuse of shareholder rights by controlling shareholders or corporate deadlock.

5. Zhejiang Zhen Tuo Coal Trading Co., Ltd. v. Shaanxi Investment Group Co., Ltd. (Sales Contract Dispute; Claim Amount Approximately RMB 14 Million)

This case was selected as a Model Case of the Supreme People's Court in 2023. Having undergone one order for retrial and two remands for a new trial, our team represented the client in the fourth round of proceedings. The case focused on the attribute analysis of delivery documents such as warehouse receipts as either a creditor's right document or a real right document. It was ultimately determined that there was no actual delivery of goods between the parties to the case, and the plaintiff's claim was dismissed. This case provides a valuable reference for the determination of rights and liabilities, risk allocation, and distribution of the burden of proof in disputes involving circular trading.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Northwest China

Education

Awards