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Guiding Cases in PerspectiveTM
指导性案例透视TM
Dr. Mei Gechlik
Founder and Director, China Guiding Cases Project
Minmin Zhang
Associate Managing Editor, China Guiding Cases Project
Yanzhou Chen
Editor, China Guiding Cases Project
Guiding Case No. 1: CGCP Annotations
April 30, 2016 Edition∗
∗
The citation of this piece is: Mei Gechlik, Minmin Zhang, & Yanzhou Chen, Guiding Case No. 1: CGCP
Annotations, STANFORD LAW SCHOOL CHINA GUIDING CASES PROJECT, Guiding Cases in PerspectiveTM, Apr. 30,
2016, http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/guiding-cases/guiding-case-1/. The authors thank Oma Lee for assisting in the
translation of the Chinese version of this piece into English and Jordan Corrente Beck for editing the English
version.
Guiding Cases in PerspectiveTM is a unique serial publication of the China Guiding Cases Project that
identifies the original judgments selected by the Supreme People’s Court, examines their transformation into
Guiding Cases, and explores the treatment of the Guiding Cases in subsequent cases.
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I. The Process of Selecting Guiding Case No. 1
Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Limited v. TAO Dehua, An Intermediation
Contract Dispute (“Guiding Case No. 1” or “GC1”) is one of the guiding cases (“GCs”)
included in the first batch of GCs released by the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) on
December 20, 2011.1 Its original judgments are the (2009) Hong Min San (Min) Chu Zi No.
912 Civil Judgment rendered by the Hongkou District People’s Court of Shanghai
Municipality2 and the (2009) Hu Er Zhong Min Er (Min) Zhong Zi No.1508 Civil Judgment
rendered by the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai Municipality.3
This case was selected as a GC through the following process (see Chart 1):4
1. On December 31, 2010, the Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the SPC sent a
notice to all higher people’s courts nationwide on submitting candidate GCs for the
Office’s consideration.
2. On May 20, 2011, the Adjudication Committee of the Higher People’s Court of
Shanghai Municipality decided to recommend this case as a candidate GC to the SPC
after discussion.
3. After research and discussion, the Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the SPC
sent this case to the First Civil Tribunal for review and comment. The First Civil
Tribunal considered this case to have significance on guiding the adjudication of
similar cases and agreed to select it as a GC. On June 13, 2011, after discussion, the
Adjudication Committee of the SPC confirmed this case as a GC and released it on
December 20.
1 《上海中原物业顾问有限公司诉陶德华居间合同纠纷案》(Shanghai Centaline Property
Consultants Limited v. TAO Dehua, An Intermediation Contract Dispute), STANFORD LAW SCHOOL CHINA
GUIDING CASES PROJECT, English Guiding Case (EGC1), Jan. 9, 2012 Edition,
http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/guiding-cases/guiding-case-1. 2 The first-instance judgment has not been found and may have been excluded from publication.
Accordingly, these annotations focus on a comparison of GC1 and the second-instance judgment of the
underlying case. 3 《陶某某与上海中原物业顾问有限公司居间合同纠纷上诉案》(2009)沪二中民二(民)终字第
1508 号 (A certain TAO and Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Limited, An Appeal Case on an
Intermediation Contract Dispute,(2009) Hu Er Zhong Min Er (Min) Zhong Zi No. 1508), STANFORD LAW
SCHOOL CHINA GUIDING CASES PROJECT, Guiding Cases in PerspectiveTM
, Guiding Case No. 1 Original
Second-Instance Judgment, Apr. 30, 2016, http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/guiding-cases/guiding-case-1/. 4 See最高人民法院案例指导工作办公室 (The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the Supreme
People’s Court), 指导案例 1 号《上海中原物业顾问有限公司诉陶德华居间合同纠纷案》的理解与参照
(Understanding and Referring to Guiding Case No. 1, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Limited v. TAO
Dehua, An Intermediation Contract Dispute), 《人民司法·应用》 (THE PEOPLE’S JUDICATURE·APPLICATION),
Issue No. 7 (2012).
For the process of selecting Guiding Cases, see《最高人民法院关于案例指导工作的规定》
(Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court Concerning Work on Case Guidance), passed by the Adjudication
Committee of the Supreme People’s Court on Nov. 15, 2010, issued on and effective as of Nov. 26, 2010,
STANFORD LAW SCHOOL CHINA GUIDING CASES PROJECT, English Guiding Cases Rules, June 12, 2015 Edition,
http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/guiding-cases-rules/20101126-english/.
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Chart 1: The Process of Selecting Guiding Case No. 1
II. Comparison Between Guiding Case No. 1 and Its Original Judgment
1. Basic Facts of the Case
Based on the “Basic Facts of the Case” section of GC1, the following table compares
the similarities and differences between GC15 and the original second-instance judgment:
Guiding Case No. 1
Original Second-Instance Judgment
1 The court handled the case and ascertained:
(1) In the second half of 2008, the original property
right holder, LI, went to multiple housing intermediary
companies to list for sale the house involved in this
case.
Essentially the same.
(2) On October 22, 2008, a certain real-estate brokerage
limited company in Shanghai took defendant TAO
Dehua to see the house; on November 23, a certain real-
estate consulting limited company in Shanghai
Essentially the same.
5 《上海中原物业顾问有限公司诉陶德华居间合同纠纷案》(Shanghai Centaline Property
Consultants Limited v. TAO Dehua, An Intermediation Contract Dispute), STANFORD LAW SCHOOL CHINA
GUIDING CASES PROJECT, Guiding Cases in PerspectiveTM
, Guiding Case No. 1 Highlighted Edition, Apr. 30,
2016, http://cgc.law.stanford.edu/guiding-cases/guiding-case-1/.
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Guiding Case No. 1
Original Second-Instance Judgment
(hereinafter referred to as “a certain real-estate
consulting company”) took TAO Dehua’s wife, a certain
Ms. CAO, to see the house; and, on November 27,
plaintiff Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants
Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Centaline
Company”) took TAO Dehua to see the house and
signed the Written Confirmation of Request to Buy Real
Estate with TAO Dehua on the same day.
(3) Clause 2.4 of the Written Confirmation stipulated
that [where] within six months of TAO Dehua’s
examining the real estate, TAO Dehua or [any] person
associated with TAO Dehua, including his principal,
agent, representative, and undertaker, used information,
opportunities, or other such conditions provided by
Centaline Company to reach a sale and purchase
transaction with a third party without going through
Centaline Company, TAO Dehua should pay Centaline
Company liquidated damages of 1% of the actual
closing price for the sale and purchase of the real estate.
Essentially the same, but also mentions that
another act that can constitute breach of
contract is the “conclusion of sale and
purchase transaction with the seller”.
(4) At the time, Centaline Company quoted 1.65 million
yuan for the house [in question], while the [above-
mentioned] real-estate consulting company quoted 1.45
million yuan and actively negotiated with the seller on
price.
Essentially the same, but does not mention
“while the [above-mentioned] real-estate
consulting company quoted 1.45 million
yuan and actively negotiated with the seller
on price.”
(5) On November 30, under intermediation by this real-
estate consulting company, TAO Dehua and the seller
signed a housing sale and purchase contract with a
closing price of 1.38 million yuan. Later, the buying
and selling parties completed the procedure for
transferring registration and TAO Dehua paid the real-
estate consulting company a commission of 13,800
yuan.
Essentially the same.
2
Centaline Company claimed: TAO Dehua used sale
information provided by Centaline Company regarding
a certain house [located] at Number X, Zhuzhou Road,
Hongkou District, Shanghai Municipality, intentionally
bypassed the intermediary, and directly signed, on his
own [accord], a housing purchase contract with the
seller, violating the stipulations of the Written
Confirmation of Request to Buy Real Estate[, a
confirmatory contract to purchase real estate through
the plaintiff]. [This constituted] an act of malicious
“bypassing”. [Centaline Company] requested that the
court order TAO Dehua pay, in accordance with the
[terms of the parties’] contract, liquidated damages of
16,500 yuan.
Essentially the same, but without the
following expressions:
“Hongkou District”;
“intentionally bypassed the intermediary”;
“directly signed, on his own [accord], a
housing purchase contract with the seller”;
and
“[This constituted] an act of malicious
“bypassing”.
3
TAO Dehua defended his position, claiming: The
original property rights holder of the house involved in
this case, a certain LI, had entrusted multiple
intermediary companies with selling the house.
Essentially the same, but without the
following expressions:
“TAO Dehua did not use the information
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Guiding Case No. 1
Original Second-Instance Judgment
Centaline Company neither exclusively controlled the
housing information nor acted as an exclusive agent in
the sale. TAO Dehua did not use the information
provided by Centaline Company; there did not exist any
act [amounting to] breach of contract by “bypassing”.
provided by Centaline Company”; and
“‘bypassing’”.
Overall, the “Basic Facts of the Case” section of GC1 is largely based on the original
second-instance judgment, but the GC uses the term “bypass”, which does not appear in the
original second-instance judgment.
2. Reasons for the Adjudication
The Hongkou District People’s Court of Shanghai Municipality rendered the first-
instance judgment: Defendant TAO Dehua should, within ten days of this judgment’s coming
into effect, pay plaintiff Centaline Company liquidated damages of 13,800 yuan. Dissatisfied
with the judgment, TAO Dehua appealed to the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court of
Shanghai Municipality, which rendered a judgment: (1) Repeal the (2009) Hong Min San
(Min) Chu Zi No. 912 Civil Judgment of the Hongkou District People’s Court of Shanghai
Municipality. (2) Centaline Company’s litigation claim requesting that TAO Dehua pay
liquidated damages of 16,500 yuan is not supported.
GC1 quite clearly provides the adjudication reasons of the No. 2 Intermediate
People’s Court of Shanghai Municipality, but there are still differences. Based on the
“Reasons for the Adjudication” section of GC1, the following table compares the similarities
and differences between GC1 and the original second-instance judgment:
Guiding Case No. 1
Original Second-Instance Judgment
1
The Written Confirmation of Request to Buy Real Estate
signed by Centaline Company and TAO Dehua was of
the nature of an intermediation contract, and the
stipulation of Clause 2.4 prohibiting “bypassing” was a
standard clause commonly found in intermediation
contracts for the sale and purchase of housing. The
intent of [the clause] was to prevent the buyer from
using housing information provided by the intermediary
company but “bypassing” the intermediary company to
purchase the house so as to make the intermediary
company unable to obtain the commission that it
deserved. The stipulation did not include circumstances
that exempted one party from liability, increased the
other party’s liability, or ruled out the other party’s
primary rights, and [, thus, it] should be determined to
be valid.
Essentially the same meaning, but without
the following expression:
“was a standard clause commonly found in
intermediation contracts for the sale and
purchase of housing. The intent of [the
clause] was to prevent the buyer from using
housing information provided by the
intermediary company but “bypassing” the
intermediary company to purchase the house
so as to make the intermediary company
unable to obtain the commission that it
deserved.”
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Guiding Case No. 1
Original Second-Instance Judgment
2
According to this clause, the key to determining
whether the buyer breached the contract by “bypassing”
is to see whether the buyer used housing information,
opportunities, or other such conditions provided by the
intermediary company. If the buyer did not use the
information, opportunities, or other conditions provided
by the intermediary company, but obtained the same
housing information through other proper means of
which the public could learn, the buyer had the right to
choose an intermediary company with a lower quoted
price and better service to facilitate formation of a
housing sale and purchase contract without constituting
a breach of contract by “bypassing”.
No such expressions, but provides more
detail regarding when various intermediary
companies provided the buyer with the
housing information and whether those
companies facilitated the negotiation about
the price between the buyer and the seller.
3
In this case, the original property rights holder listed the
same house for sale through multiple intermediary
companies; TAO Dehua and his family members
separately came to know the same housing information
through different intermediary companies and [one of
these] intermediary companies facilitated formation of
the housing sale and purchase contract. Therefore, TAO
Dehua did not use information or opportunities
provided by Centaline Company and [his acts] did not
constitute breach of contract. Centaline Company’s
litigation claim was not supported.
Essentially the same.
Overall, there are quite a few differences between the “Reasons for the Adjudication”
section of GC1 and the original second-instance judgment. The analysis of these differences
touches on the reasons for selecting GC1 as a GC, which are discussed below.
III. Reasons for Selecting Guiding Case No. 1
GC1 involves the issue of “bypassing” that frequently occurs in the sale and purchase of second-hand housing intermediation disputes. “Bypassing” means “the phenomenon in
which a buyer selects housing through an intermediary company’s intermediation services,
but intentionally bypasses the intermediary company to directly reach a sale transaction with
the owner of the house or to reach a sale transaction with the owner of the house through
other intermediary companies.”6 According to the Office for the Work on Case Guidance of
the SPC, GC1 was selected because it addresses the issue that “in practice, there have been
different understandings of the legal validity of the clause prohibiting bypassing stipulated in
an intermediation contract for the sale and purchase of housing and of what circumstances
constitute a breach of contract by bypassing”.7 On this, the SPC provides the following
summary in the “Main Points of the Adjudication” section of GC1, which reads:
6 最高人民法院案例指导工作办公室 (The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the Supreme
People’s Court), supra note 4, at 30. 7 See id.
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In an intermediation contract for the sale and purchase of housing, stipulations
prohibiting a buyer from using housing information provided by an
intermediary company to sign a housing sale and purchase contract with a
seller while bypassing the intermediary company are legal and valid.
However, when a seller lists the same house for sale through multiple
intermediary companies and the buyer can obtain the same housing
information through other proper means of which the public can learn, the
buyer has a right to choose an intermediary company with a lower quoted
price and better service to facilitate formation of a housing sale and purchase
contract. Such acts do not [entail the] use of housing information from the
intermediary company with whom [the buyer] has previously contracted;
therefore, [they] do not constitute a breach of contract.
Because the original second-instance judgment of GC1 is “in conformity with legal
provisions and stipulations agreed by the parties, in line with the legal spirit of fairness and
reasonableness, is conducive to encouraging intermediate companies to gain competitive
advantages by providing intermediary services of high quality at good prices, promotes
healthy competition in the intermediation market for second-hand housing, and is conducive
to protecting the buyer’s legal right to choose in the purchase of housing”, the SPC
determined that this case “provides guidance on the adjudication of similar cases” and
selected it as a GC.8
IV. Brief Comments
With respect to the similarities and differences between GC1 and the original second-
instance judgment and to the reasons for selecting the case as a GC, the authors have the
following observations.
1. Guiding Case No. 1 Does Not Analyze in Detail the Legal Validity of a Clause
Prohibiting Bypassing
Although GC1 was selected because, among other reasons, of the fact that, in
practice, parties have different understandings of “the legal validity of the clause prohibiting
bypassing stipulated in an intermediation contract for the sale and purchase of housing”,9
GC1 does not analyze this issue in detail. The relevant analysis was instead provided by the
Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the SPC after the issuance of GC1.
With respect to the legal validity of a clause prohibiting bypassing, the original
second-instance judgment states:
[The contract at issue in this case contained] a clause regarding liability arising
from breach of contract when a client bypasses an intermediary. [This clause]
aims at protecting the rights and interests that an intermediary company should
8 See id. 9 Id.
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enjoy in accordance with law as the intermediary [of its client]. [The clause]
does not include circumstances that exempt one party from liability, increase
the other party’s liability, or rule out the other party’s primary rights, and [,
thus, it] should be determined to be valid.
The “Reasons for the Adjudication” section of GC1 provides:
[in this case,] the stipulation of Clause 2.4 prohibiting “bypassing” was a
standard clause commonly found in intermediation contracts for the sale and
purchase of housing. The intent of [the clause] was to prevent the buyer from
using housing information provided by the intermediary company but
“bypassing” the intermediary company to purchase the house so as to make
the intermediary company unable to obtain the commission that it deserved.
The stipulation did not include circumstances that exempted one party from
liability, increased the other party’s liability, or ruled out the other party’s
primary rights, and [, thus, it] should be determined to be valid.
Further, the “Main Points of the Adjudication” section of GC1 states:
In an intermediation contract for the sale and purchase of housing, stipulations
prohibiting a buyer from using housing information provided by an
intermediary company to sign a housing sale and purchase contract with a
seller while bypassing the intermediary company are legal and valid.
After the issuance of GC1, the Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the SPC gave
a detailed analysis on the above-mentioned issue. The Office first explained why a clause
prohibiting bypassing is a type of standard clause:
In practice, a clause prohibiting bypassing is usually prepared beforehand in a
contract by the intermediary company. Then, [the contract] is directly
presented to the principal [i.e. the client] for signature to confirm [his or her
approval of the content] during the intermediation. This type of clause that is
prepared in advance for repetitive use and is not negotiated with the other
party when the contract is signed is a standard clause by nature.10
Because clauses that prohibit bypassing are standard clauses in contracts between a client and
an intermediary, they must comply with Article 40 of the Contract Law of the People’s
Republic of China, (the “Contract Law”), which provides:11
Where a standard clause has a circumstance stated in Article 52 or Article 53
of this Law, or the party which supplies the standard clause exempts itself
from liability, increases the other party’s liability, or rules out the other party’s
10
最高人民法院案例指导工作办公室 (The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the Supreme
People’s Court), supra note 4, at 31. 11 《中华人民共和国合同法》 (Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China), passed and issued on
Mar. 15, 1999, effective as of Oct. 1, 1999, Article 40, http://www.npc.gov.cn/wxzl/wxzl/2000-
12/06/content_4732.htm.
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primary rights, the clause shall be invalid.
Article 52 of the Contract Law provides:12
A contract shall be invalid under any of the following circumstances:
(1) one party enters into the contract by means of fraud or coercion, harming the
State’s interests;
(2) there is malicious collusion to harm the interests of the State, a collective, or a
third party;
(3) an illegal purpose is concealed under the guise of legal forms;
(4) public interests are harmed; or
(5) [the contract] violates the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative
regulations.
Article 53 provides:13
The following exemption clauses in a contract are invalid:
(1) [a clause] that causes personal injury to the other party;
(2) [a clause] that, due to intent or gross negligence, causes property damage
to the other party.
The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the SPC does not consider standard clauses
prohibiting bypassing raise the sort of concern Article 52 and Article 53 [of the Contract
Law] are meant to address. Its reasons are as follows:
Because stipulations prohibiting bypassing usually do not involve content that
would harm the interests of the State, a collective, a third party, or the public
interest in the society. Their main aim is to prevent dishonest acts of buyers,
rather than having an “illegal purpose”. Laws and administrative regulations
also do not have provisions stopping parties from [entering into contracts
with] clauses prohibiting bypassing. Moreover, such clauses are not liability
exemption clauses. Therefore, they do not fall under the circumstances
provided in Article 52 and Article 53 of the Contract Law.14
(emphasis
added)
Regarding whether a clause prohibiting bypassing involves situations where “the
party which supplies the standard clause exempts itself from liability, increases the other
party’s liability, or rules out the other party’s primary rights”, as provided in the Contract
Law, the Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the SPC first stated that “increasing [the
other party’s] liability means the standard clause covers obligations that the other party
should not bear under normal circumstances” and “ruling out [the other party’s] primary
rights refers to ruling out the primary rights that the other party should enjoy under normal
12
Id. Article 52. 13
Id. Article 53. 14
最高人民法院案例指导工作办公室 (The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the Supreme
People’s Court), supra note 4, at 31.
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circumstances.” 15
Therefore, in order to determine whether a clause prohibiting bypassing
increases the other party’s liability and/or rules out the other party’s primary rights, one
should, based on the nature of the specific contract, decide the two parties’ obligations and
rights “under normal circumstances”. The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the
SPC’s analysis is as follows:
Based on the nature of an intermediation contract for the sale and purchase of
second-hand housing, the intermediary company’s primary obligation is to,
according to the principal’s request, honestly report to the principal
opportunities for entering into a contract and offer intermediary services
facilitating contract formation. [The intermediary company’s] right is to
receive remuneration after the formation of the contract that it facilitates. The
principal’s primary right is to receive information and services. His primary
obligation is to pay remuneration when the intermediary company has
facilitated the formation of the contract.16
The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the SPC points out that the purpose of a clause
prohibiting bypassing is to prevent a buyer from avoiding the performance of his own
contractual obligations, i.e., bypassing the intermediary so as not to pay the intermediary the
remuneration it is owed. Therefore, such a clause does not involve situations where “the
party which supplies the standard clause exempts itself from liability, increases the other
party’s liability, or rules out the other party’s primary rights”, as provided by the Contract
Law. 17
Two points are worth considering. First, since the Office for the Work on Case
Guidance of the SPC has analyzed in detail the above issues, shouldn’t the analysis be
included in GC1 to ensure that courts handling subsequent cases can make a more accurate
reference to the GC? Second, the SPC only listed “Article 424 of the Contract Law of the
People’s Republic of China” in the “Related Legal Rule(s)” section of GC1. That provision
states:
An intermediation contract is a contract, in which the intermediary [agrees to]
report to the principal opportunities for entering into a contract or provide [the
principal] with intermediary services to facilitate contract formation and, [in
return,] the principal [agrees to] pay remuneration.
Article 424 has no direct relevance to solving the legal issues in GC1. Based on the above
discussion, in the authors’ opinion, the SPC should list Article 40, Article 52, and Article 53
of the Contract Law in the “Related Legal Rule(s)” section to increase the reference value of
GC1.
2. The Statements in Guiding Case No. 1 about the Circumstances that
Constitute a Breach of Contract by Bypassing Are Not Based on the
Original Second-Instance Judgment 15 Id. 16 Id. 17
Id.
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With respect to what circumstances would constitute a breach of contract by
bypassing, the original second-instance judgment actually has no clear explanation of this
issue. On the issue of whether the buyer in this case improperly used the information and
opportunities provided by the intermediary company and then entrusted others to conclude
the transaction, thereby breaching the contract, the original second-instance judgment
provides:
According to the Contract Law and stipulations agreed upon by both parties, if
the principal, for the purpose of not paying or paying less commission,
improperly impedes the satisfaction of conditions for commission payment,
such as concluding the transaction in private between the buyer and seller or
entrusting others to conclude the transaction, the conditions would be deemed
to have been satisfied and the principal should pay the intermediary the
commission.
The original second-instance judgment then proceeds to lay out facts of this case in detail: the
seller of the house entrusted three intermediary companies to sell the house, but none of them
was entrusted exclusively; all of the three intermediary companies provided TAO Dehua with
information related to the house involved in the case and opportunities for entering into a
contract, as well as provided intermediary services by letting [TAO Dehua] view the housing
on-site; but Centaline Company was not the first company to report to TAO Dehua the
contracting opportunities or provide him with the house-viewing services; Centaline
Company only provided TAO Dehua with house-viewing intermediary services once and did
not intermediate between the buyer and the seller regarding the price; another company,
through provision of its intermediary service, facilitated both the buyer and the seller to reach
a sale transaction at a lower price. Finally, the second-instance judgment concludes:
Therefore, TAO [Dehua] did not, for the purpose of avoiding paying
commission, privately reach a transaction with the seller of the housing or
improperly use Centraline Company’s information and opportunities and then
entrusted others to conclude the transaction. Therefore, his acts did not
constitute a breach of contract.
With respect to what circumstances constitute a breach of contract by bypassing, the
“Reasons for the Adjudication” section of GC1 provides:
[T]he key to determining whether the buyer breached the contract by
“bypassing” is to see whether the buyer used housing information,
opportunities, or other such conditions provided by the intermediary company.
If the buyer did not use the information, opportunities, or other conditions
provided by the intermediary company, but obtained the same housing
information through other proper means of which the public could learn, the
buyer had the right to choose an intermediary company with a lower quoted
price and better service to facilitate formation of a housing sale and purchase
contract without constituting a breach of contract by “bypassing”.
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Then, the “Reasons for the Adjudication” section of GC1 states:
In this case, the original property rights holder listed the same house for sale
through multiple intermediary companies; TAO Dehua and his family
members separately came to know the same housing information through
different intermediary companies and [one of these] intermediary companies
facilitated formation of the housing sale and purchase contract. Therefore,
TAO Dehua did not use information or opportunities provided by Centaline
Company and [his acts] did not constitute breach of contract. Centaline
Company’s litigation claim was not supported.
Finally, the above statements are summarized as the “Main Points of the Adjudication” of
GC1, which includes the following:
[W]hen a seller lists the same house for sale through multiple intermediary
companies and the buyer can obtain the same housing information through
other proper means of which the public can learn, the buyer has a right to
choose an intermediary company with a lower quoted price and better service
to facilitate formation of a housing sale and purchase contract. Such acts do
not [entail the] use of housing information from the intermediary company
with whom [the buyer] has previously contracted; therefore, [they] do not
constitute a breach of contract.
It can be seen from the above analysis that the “Reasons for the Adjudication” section
of GC1 directly mentions the concept of “bypassing” and defines the conditions for a breach
of contract by “bypassing”. However, the original second-instance judgment actually
contains no reference to the term “bypass”, nor does the court use the above standards to
determine whether the buyer’s acts breached the intermediation contract that it signed with
the intermediary company. Without the factual basis behind the original second-instance
judgment, GC1 only provides a rather vague standard.
This vague standard could result in confusion in subsequent adjudication, as reflected
in the following example: a buyer learns of a certain housing for the first time from
information provided by intermediary company A. Although the buyer’s will to purchase the
housing has been formed, he does not purchase it immediately. Instead, he actively contacts
intermediary companies B, C and D to see whether the seller puts the same housing up for
sale through these intermediary companies. In reality, there is a high chance that this could
happen. Thus, the buyer again obtains information about this housing from intermediary
companies B, C and D, and, finally, chooses the intermediary company that offers the lowest
quoted price and best service to facilitate formation of the housing sale contract. According
to the “Main Points of the Adjudication” of GC1, in this situation, because “the buyer can
obtain the same housing information through other proper means of which the public can
learn, the buyer has a right to choose an intermediary company with a lower quoted price and
better service to facilitate formation of a housing sale and purchase contract. Such acts do not
[entail the] use of housing information from the intermediary company with whom [the
buyer] has previously contracted; therefore, [they] do not constitute a breach of contract.”
2016.04.30 Edition
Copyright 2016 by Stanford University
13
Is this conclusion fair to intermediary company A? In the above example, the buyer
intentionally bypasses intermediary company A to reach a sale transaction with the owner of
the house through other intermediary companies; but because the standard in GC1 is vague,
in the sense that it has no reference to whether the buyer “intentionally” bypassed
intermediary company A, the acts of the buyer would not constitute a breach of contract.
What is interesting is that, as discussed in Part III of this piece, the Office for the Work on
Case Guidance of the SPC defines “bypassing” as “the phenomenon in which a buyer selects
housing through an intermediary company’s intermediation services, but intentionally
bypasses the intermediary company to directly reach a sale transaction with the house owner
or to reach a sale transaction with the house owner through other intermediary companies.”18
Yet, the word “intentionally” is not incorporated into the “Main Points of the Adjudication”
of GC1.
18
最高人民法院案例指导工作办公室 (The Office for the Work on Case Guidance of the Supreme
People’s Court), supra note 4, at 30.