China’s Supreme Court Tightens Anti-Bribery Provisions, Raising Stakes for Companies 

China’s anti-bribery compliance landscape has tightened significantly with the release of a new judicial interpretation that clarifies penalty thresholds for a range of bribery offences and extends equivalent standards to both state and private sector actors. Companies operating in China should review their anti-bribery compliance frameworks in light of the new rules, which lower the bar for criminal liability and expand exposure for senior management.

China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPP) has released a new judicial interpretation guiding the implementation of provisions related to bribery and embezzlement in the Criminal Law. The document clarifies important provisions on sentencing terms for different acts of bribery by both companies and individuals, as well as conditions for heavier penalties.

The new interpretation, which is titled the Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Corruption and Bribery (Interpretation (II) and came into effect on May 1, 2026, illustrates how China is tightening law enforcement of bribery by both individuals and companies, with important consequences for compliance and managing internal anti-bribery policies and mechanisms.

Determining penalty thresholds for bribes 

The Judicial Interpretation clarifies the thresholds for penalties applying to acts of bribery defined in the Criminal Law, including accepting, soliciting, and offering bribes, as well as brokering bribes and directly bribing state officials.

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These thresholds are relatively low – imprisonment of up to 10 years can apply even where the bribe amount is modest – underscoring the seriousness with which bribery is treated under Chinese law. 

In a notable development, the Judicial Interpretation aligns the thresholds and penalties for bribery involving state and non-state actors alike, reflecting the government’s increasingly serious approach to corruption in the private sector. 

Penalty thresholds for soliciting, offering, and accepting bribes 

The new interpretation clarifies the conditions under which an act of accepting or soliciting a bribe is considered “serious” or “particularly serious”, and therefore is subject to harsher penalties. 

The interpretation clarifies the implementation of Article 387 of the Criminal Law, which punishes the acceptance or solicitation of bribes by public and private institutions. Penalties include fines for the company and fixed-term imprisonment of up to three years for those involved in “serious” circumstances, or between three and 10 years for those involved in “particularly serious” circumstances.  

The conditions under which such an act is considered “serious” or “particularly serious” are summarized in the table below.

Penalty thresholds for offering bribes 

In a similar vein, the interpretation clarifies the conditions under which an individual or company can be punished for offering a bribe, stipulated in Article 391 of the Criminal Law, either under general or serious circumstances.  

Individuals involved in the offering of a bribe can be fined and imprisoned for up to three years for general cases, or up to seven years for serious cases.

Penalty thresholds for brokering or offering bribes to state officials 

Bribing state officials, either directly or by brokering a bribe, can also be punished with up to three years imprisonment, or up to 10 years imprisonment in the case of a direct bribe of a state official by a company where the circumstances are “particularly serious”.  

The interpretation clarifies the conditions under which circumstances of offering or brokering a bribe for a state official are deemed “serious” or “particularly serious” as stipulated in Articles 392 and 393 of the Criminal Law.

Attribution of bribery by an individual to a company 

The Judicial Interpretation clarifies the cases in which a bribe by an individual to a state official could be charged and punished as a company offense, rather than an individual offense. 

The Judicial Interpretation states that a bribe by an individual to a state official in order to obtain illegitimate benefits is charged and punished as company bribery in any of the following circumstances: 

1. Where the decision was made collectively by the company, and the proceeds of the unlawful conduct accrue to the company; or
2. Where the decision was made by the actual controller or person in charge of the company, and the proceeds of the unlawful conduct accrue to the company. 

Under the second item above, this means that acts of bribery carried out by an individual with a position of power within the company, if it is for the benefit of the company, can make the company as a whole liable for bribery, even if other individuals in the company were not aware of it. 

However, if the personal assets of an individual and the assets of a unit are so commingled as to be indistinguishable, and the illegitimate benefits obtained by the company through bribery in fact accrue to the individual, only the individual will be charged and punished for bribery.  

What does this mean for companies? 

China has been cracking down heavily on bribery in recent years, and the tightening of anti-bribery regulations is a facet of this campaign. At the end of 2023, the Criminal Law was updated to add private companies to anti-bribery articles and increase penalties for corruption. The latest Judicial Interpretation is a continuation of this trend and a further effort to ensure the updated Criminal Law is implemented to the fullest extent.

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The thresholds for severe penalties are relatively low in the Judicial Interpretation and can be lowered further if certain aggravating circumstances apply. While these thresholds are higher for companies than for individuals, they are still relatively low, and can be as little as RMB 200,000 in certain circumstances. 

A company can also face criminal liability for bribery committed by a single manager or controller, even without broader organizational knowledge, as long as the company benefits from the conduct. This is particularly relevant for founder-controlled or closely held structures where decision-making is concentrated in one or a few individuals. However, even where an individual is held personally liable for bribery, the company itself can face significant reputational damage, particularly in cases where attempts have been made to bribe state actors or potential clients or partners. 

For businesses, the tightening regulations will require stricter oversight of employees and business partners, as well as efforts to ensure policies are in place to prevent bribery at all levels of the organization. Companies should therefore update their internal anti-bribery policies and mechanisms to ensure employees are aware of the new thresholds and the severity of the consequences, and reinforce structures to prevent and detect corruption.  

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