CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alan Zhou, Jacky Li, Weiwei Gu, Steven Zhu and Jenny Chen, Global Law Office
1. Legal Framework 1.1 International Conventions
The legal framework can be divided into three levels, depending on the severity of the offences and the identity of the individuals involved. • The Anti-Unfair Competition Law (AUCL) and other laws and regulations in the civil, administrative and economic spheres are the foundations for the widespread administrative enforcement against commercial bribery in China. • The Criminal Law and the corresponding legislative and judicial interpretations – such as the Inter - pretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law in Handling of Criminal Cases of Embezzlement and Bribery and the Circular of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Issuing Opinions on Issues concerning the Application of Law in Handling of Criminal Cases of Commercial Briberies – stipulate criminal violations and criminal offences. • The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) promulgates disciplines and regula - tions that are binding on all CPC members and set a much lower threshold for the constitution of corruption-related violations. 1.3 Guidelines for the Interpretation and Enforcement of National Legislation There are no official guidelines on the interpretation and enforcement of anti-corruption laws in China. Supervisory authorities in various industries publish certain notices and working plans for enforcement actions. 1.4 Recent Key Amendments to National Legislation From an administrative law perspective, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promul - gated an AUCL revision on 27 June 2025, which came into force on 15 October 2025. The revised AUCL mainly strengthens punitive sanctions for commercial bribery and introduces administrative penalties for the acceptance of bribes, along with individual liability for the personnel involved.
In December 2000, the Chinese government signed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the “Convention”), which took effect in China on 23 October 2003. While the Convention is universally applicable to all transnational organised crimes, corruption is one of its main focuses, requir - ing states to take measures through legislation and enforcement to promote anti-corruption. International conventions to which China is a party include the United Nations Convention against Cor - ruption (the “Anti-Corruption Convention”), which officially took effect in China on 12 February 2006. China was actively involved in the formation stage of the Anti-Corruption Convention and was among the first countries to ratify it, except for one reservation on paragraph 2 of Article 66 regarding a dispute settle - ment channel. The Anti-Corruption Convention is the first and only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument with the framework established on five pil - lars: • preventative measures; • criminalisation and law enforcement; • international co-operation; • asset recovery; and • technical assistance and information exchange. Ten years on from China’s ratification of the Anti-Cor - ruption Convention, in 2016, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued a status review report on China’s implementation of the Anti-Corruption Con - vention, with China’s efforts in and dedication to com - batting corruption through active law enforcement, successive international co-operation and sustainable good practices being well recognised. 1.2 National Legislation There is currently no independent, consolidated stat - ute in China that is similar to, for example, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or the UK Bribery Act. Bribery and corruption in China are governed by mul - tiple authorities in accordance with various laws and regulations.
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