[Xia Ke Island Press]
Recently, a reporter from the "China Times" In-depth Investigation Department received a video of a self-report of Wang Linqing, a judge of the Supreme People's Court. In the video, Wang said that he had acted as the representative of Shaanxi Yulin Keqilai Company against the Xi'an Geological Survey Institute. The person in charge of the case discovered that the case file that was originally in his office disappeared mysteriously before he was preparing to write the judgment.
After several bizarre back and forths, the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Supreme People's Court issued a statement today, hoping for insider information to provide information, and stated that if any staff of our hospital are found to have violated trial discipline, will be dealt with seriously in accordance with disciplines and laws.
Actually, the case mentioned in the video is an old case that has been delayed for more than 12 years. CCTV has also reported many times. Today, Xiakedao recommends the investigative article "Shaanxi Hundred Billion Mining Rights 12-year Dispute: Power Rent Seeking Behind the Battle for "Black Gold"" published by " China Economic Weekly " in February 2018. , I’ll give you some additional background material. The
article has been authorized by China Economic Weekly.
This column is jointly produced by Xiakedao and "China Economic Weekly"
This is the 68th article of Economic Ke
Located in Yulin City in northern Shaanxi, is known as "China's Kuwait" because of its rich underground mineral resources. .
How many coal reserves are there in Yulin? Data shows that its predicted coal reserves are 272 billion tons and its proven reserves are 149 billion tons. During the "Golden Decade of Coal" and the period of rising crude oil prices, the energy industry once accounted for half of Shaanxi Province's industry, reaching a peak of 60%.
In 2003, Yulin Keqilai Energy Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "kaiqilai") signed the " Cooperation Exploration Contract", jointly conduct detailed and precise investigation of coal resources in the Polo-Hongshiqiao exploration area.
However, this coal mine, which was once valued at hundreds of billions, did not bring wealth to Zhao Faqi, the legal representative of Keqilai. The two parties had disputes over the cooperative exploration contract, and the litigation lasted for more than ten years. On December 21, 2017, the Supreme People's Court made a final judgment, ruling that the contract signed between Kechilai and the Western Survey Institute was legal and valid and would continue to be performed.
After nearly 12 years of defending rights, the results finally came, but Zhao Faqi told a reporter from China Economic Weekly, "I am not too happy, and we have to continue to fight."
The twists and turns " cooperative exploration "
Information provided by Zhao Faqi shows , on August 25, 2003, Keqilai signed a "Cooperative Exploration Contract" with the Western Exploration Institute.
A copy of the contract seen by a reporter from China Economic Weekly showed that Keqilai and the Western Exploration Institute agreed to invest in the Boluo-Hongshiqiao exploration area (Polo Mine Field) in Hengshan County, Shaanxi Province at a ratio of 8:2. The company carried out cooperative detailed investigation and exploration of coal resources. The exploration rights of the mining area were evaluated by the statutory evaluation agency and reported to the Department of Land and Resources for filing. The two parties negotiated and determined that its value was 15 million yuan. After the agreement comes into effect, the benefits generated from the exploration area, regardless of appreciation, joint development, or mineral rights transfer, will be shared at a ratio of 8:2.
The Boluo Mine Field, with a permitted exploration area of 279.24 square kilometers, is located in Yuyang District and Hengshan County of Yulin City. Later, preliminary exploration reserves were nearly 2 billion tons. During the "Golden Decade of Coal", as coal mine prices soared, the market valuation once reached 380 billion yuan. Before
signed the agreement, Zhao Faqi didn't know whether he could dig out "black gold." In his words, "exploration investment is like gambling" because he didn't know whether there was any underground mine and what its quality was.
In March 2004, the Western Exploration Institute submitted the summary of the contract and exploration rights evaluation report to the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources for filing. The Department of Land and Resources believes that in accordance with relevant regulations, both parties can submit the contract to the Department of Land and Resources for record. However, according to the minutes of the 21st meeting held by the Shaanxi Provincial Government on October 20, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as the "21st Meeting Minutes"), relevant documents should also be submitted. Department approval document.
Zhao Faqi said that he then reported the situation to a then provincial government leader, who instructed the Provincial Department of Land and Resources to handle it.
In August 2004, the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources stated: "Our department believes that the cooperative exploration between Keqilai Company and the Shaanxi Provincial Geological and Mineral Exploration and Development Bureau Xi'an Geological and Mineral Development Institute complies with the requirements of national laws and regulations. The company has promised to be willing to bear risks, We are also willing to conduct cooperative exploration in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Shaanxi Provincial Government and can approve its cooperative exploration." Subsequently, Keqilai transferred 12 million yuan to the Western Exploration Institute to pay for the preliminary exploration rights.
However, in March 2005, the Western Exploration Institute returned Keqilai’s exploration rights fee of 12 million yuan and wrote a letter saying: “In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Mineral Resources Law of the People’s Republic of China, our institute has signed a cooperative exploration agreement with your company. The project... is inconsistent with the relevant policies in the minutes of the 21st meeting of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government on October 22, 2003, and cannot be implemented as agreed in the contract, so the payment from your company cannot be collected."
After coordination between the two parties, in 2005. On May 26, 2019, Keqilai paid 9 million yuan for preliminary exploration work to the Western Survey Institute, and the Western Survey Institute issued a receipt.
The Shaanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources also issued a "Report on the Coordination and Resolution of Cooperative Exploration Disputes over Coal Resources in the Boluo-Hongshiqiao Area, Hengshan County, Yulin City" ("Document No. 65") to the Shaanxi Provincial Government Office on November 8, 2005. "), the report stated: "After review, our department believes that both parties are willing to take risks and are willing to cooperate in exploration in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Shaanxi Provincial Government, and are in compliance with national laws and regulations, and can agree to cooperate in exploration. "
But "65. "No. 1 Document" did not allow Kechilai and the Western Survey Institute to continue to smoothly perform the contract.
From winning the case to losing the case
After the two parties "reconciled", on December 8, 2005, Keqilai wrote to the Western Survey Institute, hoping that the Western Survey Institute would immediately fulfill its contractual obligations, provide a detailed design and budget as soon as possible, and clarify that Keqilai The amount of money the company should also pay. However, the Western Survey Institute replied, "Our cooperation on the Polo Mine Field can no longer be started with our own strength."
Another operational route emerged behind this. Zhao Faqi believed that the Western Survey Institute was "marrying two women with one woman."
On December 14, 2005, the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources sent a letter to the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources stating that it had received an approval letter from the then Shaanxi Provincial Government leader, "requiring our department to conduct a review of the China National Chemical Engineering Group (hereinafter referred to as ' Sinochem Engineering' ), Hong Kong Yiye Investment (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hong Kong Yiye") requested to participate in the report on the supporting well field exploration work of the Yuheng Project in northern Shaanxi. "
According to media reports, in November 2004, Sinochem Engineering. , Hong Kong Yiye and the Yulin Municipal Government signed a cooperation agreement for the Northern Shaanxi Energy and Chemical Base Yuheng 2.4 million tons of methanol MTO project, involving an investment of 15 billion yuan. On October 10, 2005, the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued an approval document, clarifying that "the supporting well field of this project is the Boluo well field, covering an area of 339.2 square kilometers, with geological reserves of 1.568 billion tons and a recoverable volume of 1.098 billion tons."
On January 13, 2006, the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources submitted to the Shaanxi Provincial Government the "Request for Instructions on the Coordination Opinions on China National Chemical Engineering Group Co., Ltd. Hong Kong Yiye Investment (Group) Co., Ltd.'s participation in the coal resource exploration work in the Boluo Mine Field" stated that, According to the instructions from the leaders of the provincial government, the Western Exploration Institute should actively coordinate with Sinochem Engineering and Hong Kong Yiye to sign a " " exploration ( fine survey ) cooperative exploration agreement . In accordance with the principle that Sinochem Engineering and Hong Kong Yiye invest, the Western Exploration Institute is responsible for the exploration work, and the exploration results belong to the investors. After the "Methanol MTO Project" is approved by the competent department, the Western Exploration Institute will transfer the exploration rights of the minefield in accordance with the law. To project development owners.
On April 12, 2006, the Western Exploration Institute and Hong Kong Yiye signed a cooperative exploration contract on the "Polo Mine Field". The "Coal Mine Survey in the Boluo-Hongshiqiao Area of Hengshan County" exploration right held by the Western Exploration Institute covers an area of approximately 258 square kilometers within the 340 square kilometers of the Boluo Mine Field. Most of the two areas overlap. .
In May 2006, Keqilai sued the Western Survey Institute to the Shaanxi Provincial Higher People's Court. On October 19, 2006, the Shaanxi Provincial High Court ruled in favor of Keqilai in the first instance.The Shaanxi Provincial High Court ruled that the cooperative exploration contract between Keqilai and the Western Survey Institute on August 25, 2003 was valid and both parties would continue to perform it; the Western Survey Institute should pay liquidated damages of 2,760 to Keqilai Company within 10 days after the judgment came into effect. Ten thousand yuan; within one month of the judgment taking effect, the exploration rights will be transferred to the name of Keqilai Company.
The Western Survey Institute was dissatisfied with the decision of the Shaanxi Provincial High Court, and in November 2006, it appealed to the Supreme People's Court.
Zhao Faqi said that at the end of April 2008, the then Vice-President of the Supreme Law, Xi Xiaoming (note: dismissed in July 2015), took the initiative to invite Shaanxi provincial government officials to the Supreme Court to "discuss the situation." In May 2008, the Shaanxi Provincial Government sent a letter to the Supreme People's Court reporting the province's opinions on the case.
The letter "Report on the Exploration Rights Dispute between the Western Exploration Institute and Keqilai Company" shows that the opinions and requests submitted by the Shaanxi Provincial Government to the Supreme People's Court include "the cooperative exploration between the Western Exploration Institute and Keqilai Company" "The contract has not been filed and has not been implemented, so it should be considered an invalid contract." "The first-instance judgment of the Provincial High Court did not correctly understand the basis of the cited documents," etc. At the same time, it was also proposed that "If the judgment of the Provincial Higher People's Court is upheld, a series of serious consequences will occur" and "it will have a greater negative impact on the overall stability and development of Shaanxi" .
This letter caused an uproar after it was exposed by the media at the time. Hou Xin, a professor at Nankai University School of Law and other digital legal experts jointly sent a "Recommendation on Calling on the Supreme People's Court to Resist Illegal Letters Interfering with Judicial Affairs" to the Supreme Court.
It was not until November 2009 that the Supreme People's Court made a second-instance ruling, holding that the facts found in the original judgment were unclear and remanded the case for retrial. In March 2011, the Shaanxi Provincial High Court reheard and ruled that the contract between the Western Survey Institute and Keqilai was invalid. Keqilai Company refused to accept the retrial judgment and appealed to the Supreme Court. After the case was heard for the first time on June 25, 2013, it was heard again on January 12, 2017, but the court did not pronounce the verdict in court.
Key "21 meeting minutes "
In this dispute, "21 meeting minutes" was mentioned many times. What does it refer to?
On October 20, 2003, the Shaanxi Provincial Government held the 21st executive meeting of 2003. The decisions of the meeting included: Coal resources in northern Shaanxi that have not yet registered exploration rights , will be arranged and registered by the provincial government and directly controlled ; for the provincial government. Units that have been granted exploration rights for several years will be regarded as carrying out exploration on behalf of the government. The owner of the exploration rights has no right to dispose of the exploration rights. Whether, to whom and how the exploration rights are transferred will be decided by the provincial government according to the overall plan of base construction and transformation. Make decisions on project implementation.
The so-called "base" refers to the northern Shaanxi energy and chemical industry base that was officially approved by the former State Planning Commission to start construction in March 2003. This is the only national energy and chemical industry base in the country, covering the two cities of Yulin and Yan'an, with an area of 80,000 square kilometers. In the same month, the first symposium on the construction of energy and chemical bases in northern Shaanxi called for the transformation of base construction from "disposable energy product development" to "deep processing and on-site conversion of resources" as soon as possible.
"Finance" once reported that "to support this big game, we must ensure that there are enough transformation projects stationed in the base." To this end, the Shaanxi Provincial Government provides supporting coal mines as a preferential policy. The prerequisite for being able to provide supporting coal mines for investors is that the provincial government must be able to uniformly allocate coal mines within the base, and it is inevitable to relinquish the right to dispose of coal mine exploration rights.
The "Mineral Resources Law" stipulates that "the state implements a system of paid acquisition of exploration rights and mining rights" and "mining enterprises that have obtained mining rights... may transfer mining rights to others for mining with approval in accordance with the law." Before the "Minutes of the 21st Meeting", Shaanxi, like other provinces across the country, had the right to give priority to mining rights for mineral resources found in the exploration area.
A focus of both parties in the dispute is whether the signing time of the cooperative exploration contract between Keqilai and the Western Survey Institute was before or after the release of the "21st Meeting Minutes". In many court evidences, the Western Survey Institute stated that the contract was actually signed after the "21st meeting minutes" were issued. Kechilai denied this.
After the dispute increasingly aroused public opinion, in April 2011, the Shaanxi Provincial Government Party Group stated in the "Report on the Investigation and Handling of the Hengshan "Bolo Mine Field" Mining Rights Issue" that the contract signed between the Western Exploration Institute and Keqilai was an orphan. Contract, neither party has the original contract. The relevant confessions and evidence about the signing of the contract by the Western Survey Institute are to be accepted, that is, this contract was to avoid "21 meeting minutes " , reversed the date of the contract to before the minutes were issued, and was a deliberate violation by both parties. Signed false contract .
At the court hearing of the Supreme People's Court on January 12, 2017, both parties once again argued on this issue. Keqilai Company said, "The cooperative exploration contract is the true expression of intention of both parties, and there is no malicious collusion or malicious collusion as determined by the Shaanxi High Court." Behavior that harms national interests."
Zhao Faqi believes that the "21st meeting minutes" are actually the main source of a series of disputes in this case. "The 21st meeting minutes are the 'family law' formulated by the provincial government itself, which led to the possession of the Western Survey Institute. Thousands of square kilometers of mineral rights were transferred to various businessmen. Administrative power forcibly intervened in the market, creating room for power rent-seeking. In the dispute, Liu Juan's entry attracted attention. Public reports show that Liu Juan worked as a typist in the Shaanxi Provincial Government Office in the 1980s, immigrated to Hong Kong in the 1990s to engage in business, and later served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In the government's red-headed documents, the main developers of the conversion project were Sinochem Engineering and Hong Kong Yiye. However, when the cooperative exploration contract was signed with the Western Survey Institute, only Hong Kong Yiye was left.
Zhao Faqi said, "After has discovered the reserves and gained benefits, they will kick out Keqilai."
The contract stipulates that the scope of the exploration rights is 340 square kilometers, and the detailed investigation work is all funded by Hong Kong Yiye. The Exploration Institute is responsible for the exploration and construction, and the precise survey results and the increased value of the exploration rights obtained through the cooperation belong to Hong Kong Yiye. Hong Kong Yiye will allocate coal mining rights only after the conversion project (i.e., the methanol MTO project mentioned above) is approved or the provincial Development and Reform Commission records and approves the implementation.
On July 7, 2006, the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission registered the 2.4 million-ton methanol MTO Phase I 600,000-ton methanol project with Document No. 677; on August 24, the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources filed a formal letter for the project. However, according to Caixin reports, Liu Juan did not obtain the exploration rights until 2016, and Liu Juan, who did not have the exploration rights, “still obtained the procedures from five departments including environmental impact assessment, safety assessment, water assessment, and land pre-examination in about half a year. ".
On June 5, 2007, the investment amount of Shaanxi Sinochem Yiye Energy Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongyi Energy Investment") and Shaanxi Sinochem Yiye Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongyi Energy") was 2.29 billion. Yuan's 2.4 million-ton methanol MTO phase I 600,000-ton methanol project started construction at the same time as the supporting Boluojing Mine's annual output of 10 million tons project. These two project companies have a common actual controlling shareholder, Shaanxi Yiye Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yiye Investment"). Yiye Investment was established on April 14, 2006, and its legal representative is Liu Juan.
In July 2008, Zhongyi Energy Investment changed its investors (equity). The legal person shareholders were changed from Yiye Investment and Sinochem Engineering to Yiye Investment and Shaanxi Taixing Real Estate, and Sinochem Engineering completely withdrew.
In November 2008, Liu Juan began cooperation with Shaanxi state-owned Yanchang Petroleum Group. The two parties valued Zhongyi Energy Investment and Zhongyi Energy at 490 million yuan, and invested 249.9 million yuan in Yanchang Petroleum, accounting for 51% of the shares respectively. The Bolo Coalfield involved in the case is still allocated to Yiye Investment, and Yanchang Petroleum intends to cooperate in its development. Zhao Faqi once reported that Yanchang Petroleum and Zhongyi Energy Investment used false price assessments of projects under construction in the first phase of the Yuheng Coal Chemical Industrial Zone in Shaanxi to obtain state-owned assets; Yanchang Petroleum and Zhongyi Energy jointly entrusted Shaanxi Zhengdexin Assets The appraisal company used the illegally mined Boluo coal mine for valuation, and was suspected of conspiring to defraud state-owned assets.
In May 2013, the Shaanxi Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission’s investigation report concluded that the incident did not involve the loss of state-owned assets or conspiracy to defraud state-owned assets.
In fact, in June 2010, Yanchang Petroleum applied to the Shaanxi Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission for the filing of an appraisal report on the acquired assets.The Shaanxi Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission’s review found that the evaluation reports contained falsehoods, violations and other problems, and the two evaluation reports were not filed. However, in 2011, the cooperation application was approved by the Shaanxi Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, but the cooperation asset evaluation was not completed.
A reporter from China Economic Weekly contacted Liu Juan for interviews many times, but her phone calls were not connected.
Appeals and Reports
After winning the first instance in 2006, Keqilai Company was deregistered and lost its qualification as a litigation subject because it was found that it had falsely reported registered capital and other issues. Later, Zhao Faqi was also wanted by the police. In August 2011, Zhao Faqi was arrested and was found not guilty after 133 days in the detention center.
After his acquittal, Zhao Faqi once again appealed the contract dispute case with the Western Survey Institute to the Supreme Court. Liu Chang, Keqilai’s legal counsel and lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, revealed that on December 21, 2017, the Supreme People’s Court issued the judgment in the form of an interview. While appealing, Zhao Faqi also publicly reported a number of officials, among whom Xi Xiaoming, the former vice president of the Supreme People's Court, and Wang Zhenxin, the former director of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources, have now been "lost."
From February to April 2017, the 11th Inspection Team of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China carried out a "look back" inspection of Shaanxi Province. The inspection team had specifically put forward opinions on corruption in the field of mineral resources in Shaanxi, pointing out that mineral resource exploration and development "The lid has not yet been lifted" on corruption issues in business, operations, and capital and share expansion of state-owned companies.
CCTV News reported that this dispute had been fought for many years due to the invisible hand of the government, and some leaders of Shaanxi Province were even involved.
Zhao Faqi said: "The essence of this case is the ownership of the exploration rights of the Polo Mine Field. This was originally a simple economic dispute case, so why did it take more than ten years?"
Until the final hearing of the Supreme Court on December 21, 2017 The verdict was that Keqilai won the case, and the contract signed by Keqilai and the Western Survey Institute was valid. Shaanxi Province has changed several leaders, and the golden decade of coal has passed. The coal mines are still idle in the Mu Us Desert. After
wins the lawsuit, according to the contract, Keqilai will also cooperate with the Western Survey Institute. Liu Chang, Keqilai’s legal counsel, said, “I recently went to Xi’an and had an interview with the leaders of the Western Survey Institute. I also sent a formal letter to the Western Survey Institute to discuss the next step of cooperation, but I have not yet received a written reply. "China Economic Weekly" reporters contacted Wang Zhanshe, the current president of the Western Survey Institute, for interviews, but received no response from him.
text/Xu Hao
source/"China Economic Weekly"
