[Title] Chi Moumou’s Dispute with the Dalian Changxing Island Economic Zone Management Committee Regarding Failure to Perform Statutory Duties 
[Keywords] Administration / Failure to Perform Duties / Marine Area Compensation / Aquaculture / Drainage Ditches / Absence of Contract for Contractual Management / Absence of Certificate of Right to Use Marine Areas 
【Key Points of the Ruling】Did the defendant, the Management Committee of the Dalian Changxing Island Economic Zone, fail to perform its duties? Should the plaintiff, Chi Moumou, be entitled to compensation for expropriation? 
【Basic Facts of the Case】 On August 7, 2002, Zheng, a villager from Xiangyang Village, contracted the tidal flats behind Xiangyang Village for marine aquaculture. In January 2004, with the approval of the Xiangyang Village Committee, construction began on shrimp ponds and sea cucumber ponds, thereby creating drainage ditches between these ponds. On August 30, 2006, the Xiangyang Village Committee contracted these drainage ditches to Cui, who had since passed away, for a total contract fee of 4,000 yuan, for the purpose of clam farming. However, the two parties did not sign a formal contract. On December 18, 2006, Cui sublet these drainage ditches to the plaintiff, Chi. In October 2007, Zheng Shaojun filed a lawsuit against the Xiangyang Village Committee over the ownership and compensation for these drainage ditches. On November 19 of the same year, the People's Court of Wafangdian City ruled that the drainage ditches belonged to Zheng Shaojun and ordered the management committee to provide compensation. Since then, the plaintiff Chi has repeatedly petitioned the street office and the management committee in search of redress. On October 12, 2011, after deliberation by the joint committee of Xiangyang Village and with the consent of the plaintiff Chi, the first drainage ditch behind Luquan in the western part of the sea, the drainage ditch east of the eastern boundary of Zheng Shaojun’s contracted area, and the north-south drainage ditches between the coastal sea cucumber ponds—covering an area of approximately 560 mu—were allocated to Chi for marine aquaculture. Subsequently, the marine area contracted by the plaintiff Chi began undergoing relocation. On September 22, 2015, the defendant, the Jiaoliu Subdistrict Office of the Dalian Changxing Island Economic Zone, issued a “Opinion on Handling Petitioning Matters” to the plaintiff Chi, informing him that his request for relocation compensation would not be granted. 
[Judgment Result] First-instance Judgment: The defendant, the Dalian Changxing Island Economic Zone Management Committee, shall fulfill its statutory duty to pay relocation compensation to the plaintiff, Chi Moumou. 
Second-instance judgment: Upholds the original verdict. 
【Reasoning of the Ruling】The Defendant, the Management Committee of the Dalian Changxing Island Economic Zone, possesses the statutory authority to reclaim the use rights of marine areas and the statutory duty to provide compensation to the holders of such use rights who have had their marine-use rights reclaimed. In this case, Chi Moumou subleased from Cui Moumou, a party outside the case, the area around the circular drainage ditch that Chi Moumou had contracted from the Xiangyang Village Committee on Jiaoliu Island in the Dalian Changxing Island Economic Zone for aquaculture purposes. Since the marine area involved in the case was requisitioned, Chi Moumou, as the lessee of that marine area, is entitled to request compensation from the Changxing Island Management Committee. The Changxing Island Management Committee shall fulfill its statutory duty to pay Chi Moumou relocation compensation within a specified time limit. 
[Relevant Statutes] Article 17, Paragraph 1, and Article 30 of the Maritime Area Use Management Law of the People’s Republic of China 
[Lawyer’s Viewpoint] The defendant argues that the reasons for denying relocation compensation are as follows: 1. The area contracted by the plaintiff, Chi Moumou, is classified as a “drainage ditch.” According to the “Implementation Plan for Relocation Compensation of Aquaculture Projects and Salt Farms in the Dalian Changxing Island Port Industrial Zone” (Jiaozhengfa [2007] No. 43), aquaculture conducted within salt farm drainage ditches is not eligible for compensation; 2. The plaintiff, Chi Moumou, does not have a valid contract for the land lease; 3. The plaintiff, Chi Moumou, does not hold a certificate of right to use marine areas and has failed to pay the fee for the use of marine areas. 
Based on the foregoing reasons, the counsel handling the case argues as follows: 1. On the one hand, the area in question is not a salt farm. Salt farms have high seawater density, making it entirely impossible to cultivate sand clams there. On the other hand, although both the plaintiff and the defendant commonly refer to the plaintiff’s contracted area as a “drainage ditch,” this so-called “drainage ditch” was actually formed naturally after the village committee constructed shrimp ponds and sea cucumber enclosures. However, this area does not serve any drainage function and thus cannot be considered a drainage ditch. Rather, it is a naturally occurring trench-like area with aquaculture potential, qualifying it as an aquaculture zone that should be compensated according to the standards applicable to aquaculture zones. 2. The “Statement of Circumstances” issued by the Yangyang Village Committee of Jiaoliu Subdistrict, Dalian Changxingdao Economic Zone—third party—to the plaintiff, Chi Moumou, clearly demonstrates that the area in question obtained by the plaintiff from the third party was acquired through offsetting against drainage ditches in other areas. This offsetting constitutes recognition of the plaintiff’s lease relationship and confirms the plaintiff’s right to lease the marine area. Although the “Statement of Circumstances” does not explicitly specify the details of the contract, this offsetting represents a continuation of the previous lease arrangement. Thus, the “Statement of Circumstances” not only clarifies the modification of the original marine lease contract but also serves as formal acknowledgment and continuation of the prior lease relationship. Therefore, this “Statement of Circumstances” clearly establishes the contractual relationship between the parties regarding the leased marine area. 3. Article 22 of the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Administration of Marine Area Use” stipulates: “Marine areas used for aquaculture that were already operated and managed by rural collective economic organizations or village committees before the implementation of this Law, provided they conform to the marine functional zoning, may, upon approval by the local county-level people’s government, have their marine use rights assigned to such rural collective economic organizations or village committees, and may be contracted out for aquaculture production by members of these collective economic organizations.” According to this provision, the entity responsible for issuing the certificate of marine use rights for the area contracted by the plaintiff should be the collective economic organization or the village committee, rather than the contractor himself. Furthermore, during the court hearing, the defendant—the Jiaoliu Subdistrict Office of the Dalian Changxingdao Economic Zone—submitted a “Statement Regarding the Compensation for Marine Areas,” confirming that even without obtaining a certificate of marine use rights, compensation can still be provided to those whose land within the village collective economic organization or from outside villages has been expropriated. Based on the above arguments, there is neither factual nor legal basis for requiring the plaintiff, Chi Moumou, to pay the marine use fee. In conclusion, the plaintiff, Chi Moumou, has legally occupied and utilized the Quanjian Drainage Ditch area for aquaculture purposes. Since this area has been expropriated, as the lessee of this area, the plaintiff is entitled to demand compensation from the Changxingdao Management Committee.