Lago Agrio oil field US attorney, Steven Donziger, had used "corrupt means," including payment of almost US$300,000 in bribes, to obtain the 2011 court verdict in Ecuador. The judge did not rule on the underlying issue of environmental damages. While the US ruling does not affect the decision of the court in Ecuador, it has blocked efforts to collect damages from Chevron in US courts. Donziger and the two Ecuadorian defendants appealed, and on August 8, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment against them in all respects. In September 2018, the District of Columbia
China–Ecuador relations of between 6% and 8%, and demand payment in barrels of crude oil. In 2013, Chinese money helped cover as much as 61% of the government’s financing needs. In exchange, China has claimed nearly 90% of the country’s oil shipments over the next few years, most of which it then trades around the world and especially in the United States A new credit line is under negotiation since mid 2014, which would be in addition to $9 billion in financing that Ecuador is seeking from China for the construction of a refinery that will process 200,000 barrels of crude oil