China’s Hubei province, widely associated with the earliest outbreak of COVID-19, has turned to a major U.S. law firm as it seeks to overturn a $24.5 billion judgment won by the state of Missouri over allegations involving protective equipment during the pandemic.
The People’s Government of Hubei Province and the Chinese Academy of Sciences asked a federal court in Missouri to throw out the judgment and dismiss the case.
To fight the award, the two entities have hired global law firm White & Case. The legal team includes Washington-based senior litigation partner Christopher Curran, whose work has included representing foreign governments in U.S. courts.
Missouri launched its lawsuit in April 2020, accusing Hubei, China’s central government and other defendants of contributing to economic losses linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
The case initially faced a setback, but a federal appeals court in 2024 revived part of Missouri’s claims. The surviving allegation centered on accusations that the defendants monopolized supplies of personal protective equipment, or PPE, during the early stages of the pandemic, pushing up prices and causing economic damage.
In March 2025, U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. entered a default judgment against the defendants after they did not respond or appear in the proceedings.
Missouri was awarded more than $24 billion after an initial finding of approximately $8 billion in compensatory damages was automatically tripled under federal law.
State officials said at the time that Missouri intended to pursue Chinese-owned assets in an effort to recover the money, including farmland located within the state.
Hubei and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are now challenging the court’s authority over them. In their latest filing, they argued that the judgment improperly reaches into matters involving foreign affairs.
They also maintained that Missouri failed to establish that any of the defendants had violated a contract requiring the shipment of protective equipment to the United States during the relevant period.
Missouri, however, has dismissed the latest challenge as coming far too late.
The state attorney general’s office said China had waited years before attempting to contest the judgment and maintained that Missouri would continue its efforts to hold China responsible for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state.
The dispute is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in Missouri v. People’s Republic of China et al.
