“Thousand-year kiln fires are endless.” The Cizao kiln site is the largest group of ancient kiln sites in Jinjiang City, Fujian Province. It is also a powerful witness to the pottery making history of Cizao Town for more than 1,500 years. Today, Cizao Town has more than 5,700 private enterprises, including more than 350 construction and ceramics enterprises, more than 300 advanced production lines, and an annual transaction volume of 15 billion yuan. It has now joined the 100-billion-dollar building materials cluster industry in Jinjiang City.
Based on the characteristics of the industry and local conditions, the Jinjiang Municipal People's Court strives to explore ways to resolve civil and commercial disputes, promotes "win business" through "business", and fully protects the healthy development of ceramic brands.
Jinjiang Court Cizao Court distributed promotional brochures to exhibitors at the Jinjiang International Home Decoration and Building Materials Expo. Photo by Lin Jianxin
In the dispute resolution room of the CPPCC members of the Jinjiang Building Materials and Ceramics Industry Association, a dispute over a ceramic tile customization contract was mediated and a settlement agreement was reached. Photo by Yang Yanping
France-Business Joint Investigation Speeds Up Dispute Resolution
April is the time of spring and bright scenery. In the legal and business litigation studio of Cizao People's Court of Jinjiang People's Court of Fujian Province, hearty laughter came from both parties. The person in charge of a certain ceramics company in Jinjiang, the plaintiff who was originally at loggerheads, and the defendants Wu and Wang shook hands after mediation. and.
This was a sales contract dispute involving a total amount of more than 13 million yuan. The Cizao Court concluded the case in just 19 days.
"The cooperation between the two parties in this case has lasted for 15 years. It would be time-consuming and labor-intensive to solve the problem through litigation." After accepting the case on April 9 this year, Li Jinling, the president of the Cizao Court, carefully read through the file materials and relied on years of experience. Based on her experience in handling cases, she judged that there was room for mediation in the case. Therefore, Li Jinling invited Wu Shengtuan, president of the Cizao Chamber of Commerce, to participate in the mediation. During the mediation process, with Wu Shengtuan's professional industry judgment and Li Jinling's analysis of the case, the parties reached mediation.
This high efficiency is due to the smooth operation of the three joint litigation and mediation docking mechanism of "linkage, joint adjustment and joint defense" of Cizao Court Legal Business and the skilled operation of the litigation guidance window.
“Cizao Chamber of Commerce has a total of 48 presidents and 450 vice presidents in non-local chambers of commerce across the country. Based on the strong organizational strength of the chamber of commerce, the court has attracted 20 entrepreneurs and chambers of commerce with good reputations and high prestige from various industries. Personnel are linked to deliver and mediate quickly and efficiently," Li Jinling said.
Since its establishment in June 2020, this "business-based negotiation" dialogue model has promoted 80% of enterprise-related disputes to be resolved through the Legal and Commercial Litigation and Mediation Studio, with the amount involved in the case amounting to more than 54.93 million yuan, and the mediation rate reached 70%. The rate increased by 13.9%, the direct delivery rate increased by 15.2%, and the review cycle was shortened by 11 days.
In addition to joint legal service and joint mediation, courts and chambers of commerce are also working hard on joint prevention and management. In view of the frequent occurrence of occupational diseases such as silicosis and pneumoconiosis in construction and ceramics enterprises, work-related injury insurance benefitsDisputes have remained high. Judges have gone deep into enterprises to guide them to conduct physical examinations for employees and pay work-related injury insurance in accordance with regulations. In recent years, occupational disease disputes have dropped significantly. There has been only one case involving occupational diseases so far in 2021.
Industry mediation creates “new synergies” in resolving disputes
As a "famous ceramic town in China", Cizao Town has gradually developed into a national-level spark regional ceramic building materials pillar industry zone and a national-level technological innovation ceramic industry demonstration base. It is particularly difficult to achieve decades of brilliant achievements, and it requires the protection of all parties to help it move forward steadily.
In February 2023, the Jinjiang City Building Materials and Ceramics Industry Association CPPCC Members Performance and Dispute Resolution Office was first established in Cizao Town, with the participation of 9 provincial, municipal, and county CPPCC members who are quite authoritative in the building materials and ceramics industry. Mediation of industrial disputes.
On the day the dispute resolution room was established, Wang Haoze, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was invited to participate in the mediation of a ceramic tile customization dispute.
A Jinjiang Building Materials Co., Ltd. and a Beijing Technology Co., Ltd. signed a "Product Purchase and Sales Contract" in March 2021. A Beijing Technology Co., Ltd. customized ceramic special products worth more than 5 million yuan from a Jinjiang Building Materials Co., Ltd. During the delivery process, the two parties had a dispute due to quality issues, and the products involved were stranded at a Jinjiang Building Materials Co., Ltd. A building materials company in Jinjiang filed a lawsuit in Jinjiang Court, requesting a technology company in Beijing to continue to perform the contract.
During the trial, a Beijing-based technology company filed a counterclaim on the grounds that its products had serious quality problems, demanding the termination of the contract, return of advance payment and compensation for losses. Because the products involved in the case are customized products and are embossed with the company's trademark logo, if the contract is terminated, a Jinjiang building materials company will be unable to sell the products involved in the case on its own and will suffer heavy losses.
“Let’s make a pot of tea and look at this matter calmly from the beginning.” As an expert in the ceramics industry, Wang Haoze relied on many years of industry experience and from the perspective of maximizing corporate interests, pointed out that if the appraisal process is adopted, the interests of both parties will be expanded. losses, damage to business reputation, and the possibility that both parties will no longer cooperate in the future, etc., and propose a "win-win" plan. After more than an hour of mediation, the warring parties finally reached an agreement. Both parties settled at a discount and shook hands to make peace.
Cizao Court gives full play to the advantages of the CPPCC members in the building materials and ceramics industry, such as their strong professionalism, wide influence and high trust, to promote the resolution of disputes in the building materials and ceramics industry, allowing conflicts and disputes to be resolved in the bud. Since the establishment of the CPPCC Dispute Resolution Office, it has mediated a total of 111 litigation disputes with a target amount of more than 43.59 million yuan, which has won high praise from the masses. Since then, the Jinjiang City Umbrella Industry and Jinjiang City Swimwear Industry CPPCC Members’ Performance and Dispute Resolution Offices have also been established one after another.
Grassroots mediation draws “concentric circles” to resolve disputes
“I didn’t expect that legal issues could be solved at ‘doorsteps’. Thank you so much, judge.” On May 20, ten workers including Chen Mou sat in the judge’s studio and sighed.
The judge's studio is a sinking guidance established by Cizao Court in the grassroots governance center of Cizao Town.A place to mediate and resolve conflicts and disputes. The court dispatched two judges, Cai Yanping and Yang Yanping, to work together regularly to carry out pre-litigation mediation guidance and dispute resolution work.
As one of the four major ceramic production bases in the country, workers engaged in ceramic construction labor in Cizao Town account for about 60% of the total employment. Many workers are injured every year due to tile handling, kiln construction, building material installation, etc.
During early research and visits, Li Jinling found that when many workers have disputes with their employers, the first thing they think of is to go to the town to resolve them, and court litigation cases often have already emerged in grassroots governance centers. Therefore, the non-litigation dispute resolution mechanism is put in place. Previously, it is indeed necessary for judges to intervene in the resolution of grassroots disputes as early as possible to prevent conflicts from escalating and intensifying.
"Judge Cai, we have a labor dispute here. Ten workers cannot get their wages and are making trouble with the government. They say they are preparing to sue..." On May 16, Cai Yanping received a call from the grassroots governance center. Rush to the studio quickly. Because the employer, Lin, the actual operator of a moving company in Quanzhou, avoided meeting and was difficult to contact, the mediation reached a deadlock.
Cai Yanping inquired about Lin’s address through the smart grid service management platform of the grassroots governance center, contacted the grid member, and the grid member went to the house to find Lin, and notified Lin to come to the studio for negotiation. Under the guidance of Cai Yanping, mediators from the Labor and Personnel Dispute Mediation Center of the Grassroots Governance Center and mediators from the People's Mediation Committee finally succeeded in brokering a mediation between the two parties, and Lin agreed to pay most of the wages to the ten workers.
After mediation, the workers felt at ease! However, the grid members will continue to be responsible for urging Lin to fulfill the mediation agreement. This is also the specific operation of the "court + grid" working mechanism supporting the judge's studio.
Since 2023, Cizao Court has participated in guiding more than 3,200 diversified dispute resolutions, and the proportion of disputes resolved before litigation reached 88.15%. This year’s new cases dropped by 18.22% year-on-year, achieving remarkable results.
“Cizao Court does good things, handles practical matters, and solves problems for the people. This is a very good practice. It really allows us people to run away less, pay less, and wait less when dealing with disputes. The results are also realized and resolved early. Good morning," commented Wu Jincheng, secretary of Dabu Village in Cizao Town and deputy to the Provincial People's Congress. (Reporter Lin Yong, Correspondent Huang Meiwen)
