A group of small businesses in California -- including Cardiff Prestige Property, Little Saigon Chamber of Commerce, First Premier X and others -- just filed the lawsuit against the People's Republic of China, the City of Wuhan and that country's Health Commission.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the small biz squad claims the Chinese government knew as early as mid-November that they were dealing with a "new" and potentially deadly virus, but kept quiet about it and even tried covering it up.

The lawsuit -- which this coalition is aiming to make a class-action by inviting similarly affected businesses across the U.S. -- also alleges it's possible a bio-weapons lab near Wuhan could be responsible for the infected bat that ended up in a wet market ... ultimately starting the pandemic.

It's pretty simple ... the suit claims since China was well aware of the simmering pandemic WAY earlier than February ... it had a responsibility to give a heads up to the World Health Organization and neighboring nations, but didn't.

As a result, this group of businesses says China has cost entrepreneurs dearly. The group is asking for a whopping $8 TRILLION in damages they say they and other small businesses have either already suffered, or will down the line due to government-ordered closures.