UNI-TOP Asia Investment Limited v SINOPEC International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation - United States District Court for the District of Columbia Case No 1-20-cv-01770-DLF - Memorandum Opinion by Judge Dabney L Friedrich - 22 April 2022
Country
Year
2022
Summary
MEMORANDUM OPINION
In this case, Uni-Top Asia Investment Ltd. (Uni-Top) seeks to confirm a foreign arbitral award that it obtained against Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp. (SIPC). See Pet'r's Pet. to Confirm Arbitral Award ¶¶ 1-2, Dkt. 1. SIPC has moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, improper venue, and the failure to state a claim. See Resp't's Mot. to Dismiss, Dkt. 26. Uni-Top, in turn, has moved for jurisdictional discovery. See Pet'r's Mot. for Jurisdictional Discovery, Dkt. 30. In a previous opinion, this Court denied jurisdictional discovery with respect to the theory that SIPC is "political subdivision" of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Mem. Op. of Jan. 26, 2022 at 10, Dkt. 34. It also ordered supplementary briefing on whether venue would be proper in this District under Uni-Top's remaining theories of personal jurisdiction, which all require classifying SIPC as an "agency or instrumentality" of the PRC. Id. For the reasons that follow, the Court will hold that venue would be improper if SIPC were an "agency or instrumentality" of the PRC. Accordingly, it will grant SIPC's motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(3) and deny Uni-Top's motion for jurisdictional discovery as moot.
- OGEL: UNI-TOP Asia Investment Limited v SINOPEC International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation - China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission CIETAC Arbitral Award Case No 0907 - English and Chinese - 30 December 2013
- OGEL: UNI-TOP Asia Investment Limited v SINOPEC International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation - China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission CIETAC Arbitral Award Case No 0836 - English and Chinese - 30 June 2017
- TDM: UNI-TOP Asia Investment Limited v SINOPEC International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation - China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission CIETAC Arbitral Award Case No 0907 - English and Chinese - 30 December 2013
- TDM: UNI-TOP Asia Investment Limited v SINOPEC International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation - China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission CIETAC Arbitral Award Case No 0836 - English and Chinese - 30 June 2017