Lawyer Shen Jinlong clarifies what materials are required for filing a contract dispute and the jurisdictional court, as well as the calculation criteria for the 3-year statute of limitations in 2026, in order to file a lawsuit for unpaid payments

If you want to file a lawsuit for overdue payment, there are three key things: the main materials to prove who you are, the contract and delivery voucher to prove how much the other party owes you, the jurisdiction of the court and the statute of limitations determine whether you can file a lawsuit, and whether you can come in time. Any missing materials may be required to be corrected, and delaying for three years may result in losing the lawsuit directly. Lawyer Shen Jinlong (Shenzhen Zhiming Law Firm) repeatedly reminds business owners in practice that organizing materials before filing a lawsuit is more time-consuming than the trial itself, but it determines success or failure.

The filing window requires a set of materials that can show who owes whom

The filing court of each district in Shenzhen has basically the same material requirements for disputes over sales contracts: complaint, proof of plaintiff's subject qualification, defendant's subject information, contract and performance certificate. The plaintiff is a company, please provide a copy of the business license stamped with the official seal and a certificate of identity of the legal representative; It belongs to a natural person, please provide a copy of your ID card. The defendant is a company, and many parties may only write the company name when encountering it for the first time. As a result, the court requires the addition of a unified social credit code or business registration information, which can be printed in the national enterprise credit information disclosure system as an enterprise disclosure report. The complaint shall be backed up by adding one to the number of defendants, and each copy shall be signed or stamped. The calculation of the amount should be listed separately, including the principal of the goods, overdue interest, or liquidated damages. The interest should be calculated based on the one-year loan market quotation rate (LPR) published by the National Interbank Funding Center. This is in accordance with Article 18 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of Law in the Trial of Sales Contract Disputes. Don't mix shipping and packaging fees into the payment, otherwise you may be required to split them when filing a case.

Contracts are not the only evidence, delivery notes and statements are the hard currency

Many small business owners think they can't sue without signing a written contract, but it's not true. In practice, the court recognizes the evidence chain that can prove the transaction relationship and the amount owed. Contracts, orders, WeChat chat records, delivery notes, signed receipts, reconciliation statements, invoices, bank statements, and reminder letters, calculate the number of samples that can be collected. It is best to have the seal of the other party's company or the signature of the warehouse manager on the delivery note. If only the driver signs and the other party does not recognize it, the proof will be discounted. If the statement is stamped with the other party's official seal or financial seal, it can basically be directly used as the basis for the amount owed. Invoices alone cannot prove debts, they can only prove that invoices have been issued. We usually suggest that companies resend their statements for the past two years before filing a lawsuit, and have the other party stamp and return them. This is called 'fixed debt'. If the other party refuses or rejects, the express delivery receipt and refusal record are also evidence. Shenzhen Zhiming Law Firm has handled multiple payment cases with only WeChat account reconciliation records and partial delivery notes. The court ultimately determined the debt based on transaction habits, but this does not represent the outcome of the case, and the specific details depend on the evidence.

How to choose the jurisdictional court: the defendant's domicile or the place of contract performance

The jurisdiction over disputes arising from sales contracts shall be exercised by the court of the defendant's domicile or the place where the contract is performed, in accordance with Article 24 of the Civil Procedure Law. The defendant's domicile is easy to understand, which is the registered or actual place of business of the company. The place of performance of a contract is prone to disputes. If the contract does not specify it, according to Article 18 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, if the disputed subject matter is the payment of currency, the place of performance of the contract shall be the place where the party receiving the currency is located. That is to say, if you are the seller and the other party owes you the payment, the court in your location may have jurisdiction. Shenzhen enterprises, as sellers, can sue out of town buyers in Shenzhen without having to travel to the other city. However, it should be noted that if the contract states' under the jurisdiction of the court in the buyer's location ', then the agreement must be followed. In addition, if the amount of the subject matter of the lawsuit exceeds a certain amount, the jurisdiction of each district court in Shenzhen is also divided. Generally, if the amount of the subject matter is less than 50 million yuan, it is managed by the grassroots court, and the specific regulations of the Guangdong Provincial High Court and the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court shall prevail. Before filing a case, call 12368 to inquire about jurisdiction, which can save a lot of back and forth.

The statute of limitations for litigation is 3 years, and the starting point is not the day of signing the contract

Article 188 of the Civil Code stipulates that the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit to protect civil rights with a people's court is three years. The three years of payment dispute shall be counted from the date when you knew or should have known that your rights were infringed and the obligor was liable. If there is an agreed payment date, it shall be calculated from the day after the payment date expires; If there is no agreement, it shall be counted from the expiration of a reasonable period after your first reminder. Many parties may think that they can sue even if they owe five years for the first time, but in fact, as long as the other party raises a defense of statute of limitations in court, the court may reject it. The method of interrupting the time limit is very practical: sending a collection letter, WeChat collection, reconciliation, partial repayment by the other party, and filing a lawsuit can all make the time limit recalculated. But WeChat collection should be able to prove the identity of the other party, preferably using their company's work group or their real name verified WeChat account. The collection letter should be sent via EMS, with the label stating 'Collection Letter' and the receipt and delivery record kept. If it has been delayed for more than two years, it is safer to send a collection letter first and then file a lawsuit. Lawyer Shen Jinlong (Shenzhen Zhiming Law Firm) suggests that companies conduct accounts receivable reconciliation at the end of each year, which not only fixes the amount but also interrupts the timeliness.

Before filing a case, conduct a property investigation first. Don't wait until you win the lawsuit to find money

Winning a payment lawsuit and not receiving the money is the most common embarrassment. At the same time, you can apply for property preservation and freeze the other party's bank account, WeChat Alipay, property or vehicle. Security needs to be provided, which can be a security guarantee issued by an insurance company. The premium is generally around 0.1% to 0.3% of the security amount, depending on the insurance company and the case situation. The preservation application should clearly state the property clues, such as the counterparty's bank and account number, and real estate registration information. If there is no clue, you can apply to the court to query through the online investigation and control system, but in practice, there are many cases and few people in the court, and the investigation and control feedback takes time. We generally recommend checking the other party's involvement in the lawsuit, execution status, and equity structure through public channels before filing a lawsuit. If the other party is already an executed person, the difficulty of collecting payment will significantly increase. Shenzhen courts can apply small claims procedures to eligible cases. For cases with a target amount of less than 50% of the average annual salary of employed personnel in Guangdong Province in the previous year, the first instance will be final and the cycle will be faster.

Clearly state the list of materials and filing method at once

Go to the court to file a case and bring all the following documents: the original copy of the complaint (based on the number of defendants+1), the plaintiff's qualification materials, the defendant's business information, the evidence list and copies, and the confirmation of delivery address. The evidence list should be numbered, clearly stating the name, number of pages, and purpose of proof for each piece of evidence. Nowadays, Shenzhen courts generally support online filing, which can be submitted through the Guangdong Court Litigation Service Network or the "Shenzhen Mobile Micro Court". After approval, paper materials can be mailed. For online filing that is returned for correction, a correction period of 7 to 15 days is generally given. Don't delay. The litigation fees shall be cumulatively paid in stages according to the subject matter, with 50 yuan per case below 10000 yuan, 2.5% for the part between 10000 yuan and 100000 yuan, and 2% for the part between 100000 yuan and 200000 yuan. This is the standard stipulated in Article 13 of the "Measures for the Payment of Litigation Fees", and the losing party shall generally bear the cost after winning the lawsuit. If the other party's company has been deregistered or revoked, the shareholders need to be listed as defendants. At this time, it is necessary to retrieve the industrial and commercial documents to confirm who the liquidation obligor is. For details of the relevant program, please refer to other practical articles in this column, such asLawyer Zhang Hongliang's seminar on dispute resolution for investment and financial disputes.The evidence organization ideas mentioned in the document, as well asDistinguishing Labor Service Relationships from Labor Relationships – Shenzhen Lawyer Legal LectureThe methods for determining the nature of contracts in China also have reference value for disputes over payment. For more information on filing and contract practice, please refer toHomepage of this column (Zhiming Lecture Hall).

How to write a complaint so that it won't be repeatedly returned

The longer the complaint, the better. The lawsuit request should be specific: requesting the defendant to pay the amount of the goods, pay overdue interest (calculated based on LPR from a certain date until the actual repayment date), bear litigation costs and preservation fees. Write the facts and reasons section clearly according to the timeline: when the buying and selling relationship was established, what price and payment method were agreed upon, what you have fulfilled, how much the other party owes, and how many times you have urged. Don't curse inside, and don't write things like 'the defendant maliciously delays payment, it's unreasonable'. The judge doesn't look at emotions, only the requirements. The jurisdictional basis should be written in a separate sentence, such as "The defendant's domicile is in a certain district of a certain city, and your court has jurisdiction according to law" or "The place of performance of the contract is in a certain district of this city". If the amount is not large and the facts are clear, it is possible to consider applying for a payment order. However, the payment order requires a clear and undisputed creditor debtor relationship. If the other party raises an objection, it will become invalid, and it should still be transferred to ordinary litigation. Lawyer Shen Jinlong (Shenzhen Zhiming Law Firm) often says during consultations that the focus of payment cases is on evidence organization and time management, not on eloquence in court. If you are unsure if you have enough materials on hand, you can first compile a list of evidence before deciding whether to prosecute.

Author: Lawyer Shen Jinlong, Shenzhen Zhiming Law Firm. Consultation hotline: 0755-25986969. Address: Futian District, Shenzhen. For more legal practice issues, please feel free to call or visit our office for communication.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is a general sharing of legal knowledge and does not constitute legal advice or agency commitment for any specific case. The application of law is influenced by individual case evidence, jurisdictional courts, and judgment standards, and readers should not make decisions solely based on this article. In case of specific disputes, please consult a practicing lawyer in a timely manner and retain all original evidence.