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China uncovers 6,000 commercial briberies in 2008

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-23 15:18

BEIJING  -- China cracked down on 6,227 business-related briberies involving 1.65 billion yuan (about 241 million US dollars) in 2008, State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said here on Monday.

Among them, 726 briberies involved medicine sales. Construction projects accounted for 216 cases.

Industry and commerce departments across the country will this year focus on briberies emerging in the post-earthquake reconstruction and the government funded projects designed for economic expansion, according to Shi Jianyuan, a discipline-inspection official of the Chinese Communist Party posted at SAIC.

Regulators would also watch for briberies in fields such as land transactions and resources exploitation.

SAIC director Zhou Bohua called for severe punishments for officials of industry and commerce departments who accept bribes.