On July 12th, a man was fined by the Longquan District Court of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province for failing to fulfill an agreement to settle a debt, with the man paying ten thousand yuan as a settlement fee in coins and then being fined an additional 2000 yuan. This news was reported by multiple mainland Chinese media outlets and became a hot topic on Baidu search on July 13th, sparking discussions among netizens.
The incident dates back to September 2023 when Mr. Wan failed to comply with a legally binding document and the creditor, Mr. Wang, applied for compulsory enforcement through the court. The two parties later reached a settlement agreement, but Mr. Wan had not fulfilled his obligations. In March 2024, Mr. Wang requested the resumption of enforcement. After mediation by the enforcement judge, Mr. Wang agreed that Mr. Wan would settle the case by paying a lump sum of 20,000 yuan. However, Mr. Wan stated in court that he could only pay 10,000 yuan on the spot, and he needed two days to gather the remaining 10,000 yuan to submit to the court.
Two days later, Mr. Wan brought a pile of one-cent coins and scattered banknotes to the court. Due to the difficulty of counting and verifying the amount, Mr. Wang refused the previous settlement proposal. In the afternoon of the same day, court staff and Mr. Wan went to the bank in Chouzhou Village, Longquan District, Chengdu, to count and exchange the coins.
As a result of this incident, the Longquan District Court imposed a fine of 2000 yuan on Mr. Wan. Eventually, Mr. Wan paid the full amount of the fine on the same day.
Regarding the decision to fine Mr. Wan 2000 yuan, the Longquan District Court stated on its official WeChat account on July 10th that Mr. Wan’s deliberate obstruction and malicious behavior of using a large amount of one-cent coins for payment not only seriously affected the court’s work but also wasted a considerable amount of judicial and public resources.
After the media reported this incident, it garnered significant attention and discussions among netizens, with nearly 600 users participating in discussions on Baidu alone. The majority of netizens expressed dissatisfaction with the situation.
User “tyb40378042” questioned: “Aren’t coins considered money?”
User “巴寄松7L” also asked: “Coins, aren’t they also considered Chinese yuan?”
User “剛剛好1127” also expressed confusion: “Is it illegal to use circulating currency?”
User “騎毛驢上珠峰” believed: “As long as coins and banknotes are legal tender, their reasonable use should be allowed!”
User “機珈藍歆gh” stated: “By this logic, if I want to use coins to make a purchase, can the merchant refuse them?”
User “無承72” expressed: “If a defaulter paid me back one cent at a time, I would be grateful. Do not demean the Chinese yuan; this decision is against the law!”