Yuan

INTRODUCTION

Defendants Andy Wang and Jenney Wang (collectively, defendants) appeal

from a judgment entered in favor of plaintiff Xiao Yan Yuan (plaintiff) following

a bench trial on her breach of contract action. The judgment awarded plaintiff

$865,593.69 in damages and held that plaintiff was entitled to one half of the proceeds

from the sale of certain real property in California. Defendants contend that (1) the trial

court committed reversible error in failing to defer to the Chinese courts and (2) there is

no substantial evidence to support the judgment.1 We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff met defendant Andy Wang (Andy)2 in Shanghai, China in 1995.

Plaintiff, a Chinese citizen, had recently graduated from The Textile University of

China. Andy, an American citizen who resides in California, was in the business of

selling software used to design clothing. Plaintiff and Andy started dating that year. At

all relevant times, defendant was married to Jenney Wang (Jenney) who also resides in

California.

In 1996, plaintiff and Andy went into business together. They formed

a company called Shanghai PGM to act as a distributor for software sold by Andy.

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