China's amended criminal law strengthens punishment for bribers, graft in private firms

BEIJING -- An amendment to China's criminal law, which strengthens criminal penalties for offering bribes and corruption in private firms, took effect on Friday.

Amendment XII to the Criminal Law adds seven serious offenses related to bribery, such as repeatedly offering bribes and offering bribes to more than one person, among others.

According to the amendment, offering bribes to those involved in the country's key work areas, major national projects or programs, as well as those in the fields of organization and personnel affairs, discipline and law enforcement, justice, food and medicine, and education, constitute severe offenses, said Ma Yan of China's Supreme People's Court.

Enterprise staffers engaging in the same type of business illegally, profiting unlawfully for friends and relatives, and converting companies' assets to shares at a low price or selling them at a low price for personal gain are now classified as criminal offenses.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, adopted the amendment in December 2023.