Zespri liquidates company it sued for $15m three years ago

Smiling Face Limited and its director were found to have propagated Kiwifruit varieties in China. (Image: Zespri)

Mon, 06 Feb 2023

Zespri Group has tipped a company it successfully sued three years ago into liquidation.In 2020, the Kiwifruit marketer was awarded almost $15 million in damages by the high court at Auckland after the firm’s SunGold variety was unlawfully taken to China and distributed to other growers by Smiling Face Limited, its director Haoyu Gao and his wife Xia Xue.Zespri launched civil action against the pair and their company in 2018 after it was discovered two of its protected varieties were being propagated by Gao and his associates in China.Liq...

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