In March 2022, Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court of China ruled to partially recognize and enforce three EB-5 visa fraud-related judgments rendered by the US District Court for the Central District of California and the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles respectively (See Anqin Wang v. Fang Zeng (2019) Yue 01 Xie Wai Ren No. 3; Hui Jiang, Jun Huang, et al. v. Fang Zeng (2018) Yue 01 Xie Wai Ren No. 21, No. 26, No. 27, No. 28, No. 32, (2019) Yue 01 Xie Wai Ren No. 58; Yeqing Xia v. Fang Zeng (2019) Yue 01 Xie Wai Ren No. 22).

The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court recognized and enforced the damages in three U.S. judgments, but rejected the punitive damages therein.

These cases also echo the rule laid down by the landmark judicial policy in 2022, ‘[I]f the amount of damages awarded by the foreign judgment significantly exceeds the applicant’s actual loss, the Chinese court may not recognize and enforce the excess’.