Missouri wins $24B judgment against China in COVID lawsuit

A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Missouri in the state’s $24 billion lawsuit against China’s Communist Party that accused it of hoarding protective supplies during the coronavirus pandemic. 

"This is a landmark victory for Missouri and the United States in the fight to hold China accountable for unleashing COVID-19 on the world," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement. 

"China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation. We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland."

Bailey's office said the judgment was six times larger than the previous largest judgment in the state's history. 

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Judge Stephen Limbaugh said in his ruling that the "Court finds that Missouri has provided evidence satisfactory to the Court to establish each Defendant’s liability to Missouri under Count IV of Plaintiff’s Complaint. The Court therefore enters a judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $24,488,825,457.00, plus postjudgment interest."

The People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, the People’s Government of Hubei Province, the People’s Government of Wuhan City, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences were all named as defendants in the lawsuit. 

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Bailey also wrote on X Friday, "Hey China, You owe Missouri $24 BILLION. I just won a judgment in court. Pay up — or we start seizing assets and farmland." 

The ruling comes five years after former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued China for "obstructing the production, purchase, and export of critical medical equipment, including PPE, during the pandemic," Bailey’s office wrote. 

A court of appeals ruled in Missouri’s favor in January, overturning a lower court ruling that threw out the lawsuit. 

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The appeals court ruled, however, that the lawsuit must be limited to accusations of supply hoarding after the lawsuit previously accused China of hiding information about the origins of the pandemic.