China to amend criminal law to strengthen punishment against bribery crimes

China will amend its criminal law to strengthen the punishment against bribery crimes and corruption-related crimes within private enterprises.

With seven items of updates, the draft Amendment XII to the Criminal Law was submitted for review on Tuesday by an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

The draft adds provisions to impose heavier penalties for multiple instances of bribery, bribery to multiple individuals, bribery committed by state officials, and three other specific circumstances.

At the same time, it adjusts the minimum threshold for sentencing and the levels of punishment for bribery, aligning them with the crime of accepting bribes.

The draft proposes to modify the penalty for the crime of bribery committed by a unit. Originally, the maximum punishment was five years of fixed-term imprisonment, but it will now be divided into two categories: the first category is "imprisonment of up to three years or detention, and a fine," while the second category is "imprisonment of more than three years but less than ten years, and a fine."

The current criminal law stipulates offenses by personnel of state-owned companies or enterprises, such as illegal business operations in the same field, illegal profiting for relatives or friends, and abusing power for personal gain through underpriced stock transfers or selling state-owned assets. The amendment extends the scope of these crimes to personnel of private enterprises.

This amendment will further strengthen the protection of property rights and the rights of entrepreneurs in private enterprises, enhancing equal protection for private enterprises.