{"id":943,"date":"2026-03-07T03:11:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T03:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xuzhousoft.com\/quanzhou\/2026\/03\/07\/can-multiple-plaintiffs-sue-together\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T02:59:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T02:59:05","slug":"can-multiple-plaintiffs-sue-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/can-multiple-plaintiffs-sue-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Can multiple plaintiffs sue together?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- BCL_CITY_OPENING_START --><\/p>\n<section class=\"bcl-city-opening\">\n<p><strong>When sourcing from Quanzhou<\/strong>, overseas companies should consider not only the contract itself but also the type of local supplier, the surrounding supply chain and the nature of the goods or services involved. Quanzhou has a large export-oriented manufacturing base covering footwear, textiles, consumer goods and industrial products. Understanding this background can help a buyer identify potential problems at an earlier stage.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- BCL_CITY_OPENING_END --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/player.bilibili.com\/player.html?isOutside=true&amp;aid=116185626646683&amp;bvid=BV1zFPaz7E9s&amp;cid=36514497922&amp;p=1\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div>Can multiple plaintiffs sue the same defendant at the same time? According to Article 55 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People&#8217;s Republic of China, if there are two or more plaintiffs, and the subject matter of the action is the same or of the same kind, the plaintiffs may file a joint action.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>There are two scenarios here. The first is that the subject matter is the same, such as in inheritance disputes, joint tort disputes, or partnership debt disputes. In such disputes, the subject matter is likely to be the same, and the court <strong>shall<\/strong> consolidate the trials.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The second scenario is that the subject matter is of the same kind, in which case the court <strong>may<\/strong> consolidate the trial.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In a joint action, if there are more than ten plaintiffs, two to five plaintiffs may be elected as litigation representatives to participate in the litigation. Legal acts performed by litigation representatives during the proceedings, such as settlement or withdrawal of the lawsuit, shall affect the other represented plaintiffs.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>However, Attorney Lyu would like to remind you that there is often a big gap between theory and practice. In many courts in China, the case-filing division does not allow multiple plaintiffs to sue the same defendant together. As for why the case-filing division does so, that is left for you to think about.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I am Qiang Lyu, a PRC lawyer. If you like my video, please subscribe to my channel.<\/div>\n<p><!-- BCL_CITY_MIDDLE_START --><\/p>\n<section class=\"bcl-city-context\">\n<h3>What Foreign Buyers Should Know About Quanzhou Suppliers<\/h3>\n<p>The Quanzhou market includes businesses involved in footwear, textiles, consumer goods, machinery and export manufacturing. Common commercial problems can include quality disputes, production delays, OEM disputes, non-conforming goods and payment disputes. In a dispute, contracts, purchase orders, technical specifications, inspection records, invoices, payment records and correspondence may become important evidence. For footwear, textile, consumer-goods and machinery transactions, buyers should pay particular attention to exact product specifications, approved samples, production tolerances, inspection arrangements and the identity of the contracting entity.<\/p>\n<p>The city\u2019s position within Fujian and its connection with a dense network of export-oriented manufacturers and trading companies can provide useful commercial context when evaluating a supplier relationship. Local characteristics do not determine the outcome of a dispute.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- BCL_CITY_MIDDLE_END --><\/p>\n<p><!-- BCL_CITY_CLOSING_START --><\/p>\n<section class=\"bcl-city-closing\">\n<h3>Before Taking Action Against a Supplier in Quanzhou<\/h3>\n<p>For an overseas buyer, a practical first step is usually to identify the correct Chinese contracting party and preserve evidence showing what was ordered, what was paid and what was delivered. Depending on the contract and dispute, the next step may involve a demand, settlement negotiations, arbitration, litigation or enforcement.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- BCL_CITY_CLOSING_END --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When sourcing from Quanzhou, overseas companies should consider not only the contract itself but also the type of local supplier, the surrounding supply chain and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china-contract-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/quanzhou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}