Teenage actress seeks redress for agent's false promises

A 16-year-old aspiring actress asked Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court Tuesday to overturn a district court's order so that only the owner of a local company should be held liable to pay 50,000 yuan ($8,155) for failing to get her a role on a television show.

The actress, Fan Xinlei, had signed a letter of commitment with Shanghai Tangding Cultural Communication Co Ltd, in which the company promised to get her a role on two episodes of a television drama that would be aired on local television before July 15.

Fan gave the company 50,000 yuan on July 19, 2011, because the company promised it would provide her with performance training.

However, after paying the money, the girl did not attend any training classes and did not get any audition calls for a year. When she could not reach the company or its owner, Fu Jian, 28, she sued them both in Jinshan District People's Court.

The district court ruled that the company should repay the girl because it didn't fulfill its end of the agreement. However, it also determined the company's owner bore no liability.

"We found that the company has only one shareholder. So we don't believe Fu should be exempted from repaying the money," said Xu Jian, Fan's attorney.

According to a recent amendment to Chinese corporate law, if the single shareholder of a limited liability corporation is unable to prove that the company's assets are separate from his own personal property, he is partially liable for the company's debts.

Because Fu didn't show up in court, the court did not officially hear the appeal.

Judge Shan Jue pointed out that the key of the case lied in forcing Fu to prove that his personal property was independent from the company's assets. If he failed to do so, he would have to repay Fan.  Shan said Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court could either ask the district court to reinvestigate and reconsider the case or Fan could file another lawsuit against Fu personally.