CHINA: An introduction to Corporate Investigations/Anti-Corruption (PRC Firms)

Corporate investigations mainly include handling government investigations and conducting internal investigations, which are closely interconnected since the most complicated, urgent and sensitive internal investigations are always triggered by external regulatory environment. Thus, corporate investigations related to anti-corruption are largely driven by government enforcement actions, for which, it could be further divided into three main dimensions in the PRC legal system:

• administrative legislations and enforcement actions by the Administrations for Market Regulation (AMR);
• criminal legislations and enforcement actions on cases not involving public officials by the Public Security Bureaus; and
• legislations and enforcement actions on cases involving public officials by the Supervisory Commissions.

Further, cross-border investigations involving multiple jurisdictions are complicated with additional legal and compliance restrictions and considerations.

Anti-corruption Administrative Legislation and Enforcement Trend

Substantively, the revision of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (AUCL) has been a long-standing process. The new draft AUCL was officially released for public comment on 25 December 2024. Not only does it introduce administrative liability for bribe-takers, but it also significantly strengthens the penalties for commercial bribery. These enhanced penalties include a proposed increase in the maximum fine for commercial bribery from CNY3 million to CNY5 million, and the introduction of fines for the legal representatives, principal responsible persons, and directly responsible persons of business operators, in addition to the existing liability imposed solely on the entity. Notably, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has also issued, for the first time, compliance guidelines specifically targeting the pharmaceutical industry, which is recognised as a high-risk sector for commercial bribery, systematically outlining risk scenarios for pharmaceutical companies across various activities, including R&D, production, distribution, and promotion, providing practical guidance on compliance management to prevent commercial bribery risks for these companies.

Procedurally, over the past year, the State Council has issued a series of guiding opinions on standardising and supervising administrative law enforcement. These opinions aim not only to regulate administrative law enforcement procedures, but also to optimise the business environment for enterprises. Particularly within the sphere of market regulation enforcement, SAMR took the lead in July 2024 by issuing opinions on regulating administrative inspections of enterprises. Subsequently, various local AMRs have responded proactively, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Hunan have successively released implementation plans for regulating administrative inspections of enterprises.

In terms of enforcement, in line with the SAMR’s focus on addressing corruption in pharmaceutical industry and its commitment to rigorously combating commercial bribery, local AMRs have actively engaged in related enforcement activities. In addition, in January 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Compliance Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Enterprises to Prevent Commercial Bribery Risks (Guidelines) to actively promote the establishment of a long-term mechanism for the governance of commercial bribery in the pharmaceutical sector. In April 2025, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation released a complementary case manual, which serves as a concrete supplement and vivid interpretation of the Guidelines.

Anti-corruption Criminal Legislation and Enforcement Trend

Substantively, the Amendment XII to the Criminal Law came into effect on 1 March 2024. This amendment refines the criminal penalties related to commercial bribery crimes, including adding circumstances that warrant heavier penalties for the crime of offering bribes, and increasing the penalties for bribery-related crimes involving entities. Concurrently, it introduces new crimes related to corruption within private enterprises, and expands the scope of the crime of illegally seeking benefits for relatives and friends.

Procedurally, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) issued the Guidelines for the Two-Way Connection between Criminal Prosecution and Administrative Enforcement by the People’s Procuratorates in December 2024. These guidelines require the people’s procuratorates (Procuratorates), in cases where they decide not to prosecute, to issue procuratorial suggestions and transfer the cases to the relevant administrative authorities if they review and find administrative penalties are warranted and require Procuratorates to track and supervise the handling of these cases. These guidelines will help to promote effective coordination between criminal justice and administrative law enforcement and create a closed loop for accountability.

In terms of criminal judicial judgments, public statistics in the annual reports released by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) show that the intense pressure on anti-corruption remains strong. In 2024, the people’s courts concluded 30,000 cases of corruption and bribery, involving 33,000 individuals, marking a 22.3% year-on-year increase. Simultaneously, the policy of investigating both bribe-givers and bribe-takers continued to advance. In 2024, 2,473 cases of offering bribes were concluded, involving 2,873 individuals, reflecting an 18.6% year-on-year increase.

Anti-corruption Supervisory Legislation and Enforcement Trend

As the anti-corruption efforts continuously intensified, the Supervision Law, first enacted six years ago, completed its first revision in late 2024, with the amended law taking effect on 1 June 2025. Key revisions include adding new supervisory measures such as compulsory appearance and release pending investigation, as well as extending the maximum detention period and introducing the rule that allows to reset the detention period. Notably, the Supervisory Commissions are also authorised to investigate non-public officials involved in bribery cases. In 2024, for instance, media reports indicate that at least 51 directors, supervisors, or senior management from 47 listed companies were detained by the Supervision Commissions for involving bribery cases and other duty-related crimes, and the majority of those detained were non-public officials.

In terms of law enforcement, domestic anti-corruption efforts continued steadily. In 2024, discipline inspection commissions and supervisory agencies at all levels initiated 877,000 cases, detained 38,000 individuals, imposed Party disciplinary sanctions on 889,000 individuals for accepting bribes, and investigated 26,000 individuals for offering bribes. Simultaneously, efforts to combat cross-border corruption intensified. Discipline inspection commissions and supervisory agencies at all levels investigated 360 cases of cross-border corruption, while also pursuing fugitives and recovering assets. These efforts resulted in the repatriation of 1,597 fugitives and the recovery of CNY18.28 billion in illicit assets.

Investigations Involving Multiple Jurisdictions

Under the circumstances where a government investigation involves multiple jurisdictions, conflicting law issues might arise. The International Criminal Judicial Assistance Law (ICJAL) enacted in 2018 clearly prohibits any unauthorised criminal investigation by any means. In April 2024, seven departments, including the National Supervisory Commission, SPC, and SPP, jointly issued specific regulations to implement the ICJAL, mandating to establish a working mechanism under the State Council to review the application for the cross-border transfer of criminal evidence. Consequently, either directly conducted by the foreign authorities, or collaterally through instructing companies in China to collect evidence through internal investigation, any provision of criminal evidence or related information from entities, organisations, or individuals within China to foreign parties is subject to review and approval by this working mechanism.

Further, the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law regulate providing data stored within China to foreign judicial or law enforcement agencies. As cross-border investigations are frequently implicated with other restrictions on transfer of protected data such as state secrets, important data, etc, under the relevant PRC laws and regulations such as the Counter-Espionage Law and the Law on Guarding State Secrets, comprehensive analysis on all relevant legal issues would be required.

Outlook and Recommendations

Anti-corruption remains a priority for China, as evidenced by the from-the-top claims of a zero-tolerance approach to corruption along with the evolving legislation trend and intensified government enforcement actions. Correspondingly, in order to contain the compliance risks associated with bribery and corruption, more commitments to compliance from companies are highly suggested, which could be initially achieved through a well-designed and implemented compliance system, covering the dimensions including due diligence on third parties, financial and operational internal control, standardisation on the gift and entertainment policies, management of business partners, an effective reporting mechanism, a proper investigation process, a crisis-management process, and corrective measures for discovered issues.

Notably, special attention and preparation are required on handling potential government investigations or inquiries where proper responsive actions may likely help to alleviate the risks through necessary efforts including internal investigation, evidence preservation, proactive communication with the authorities, control of media and public exposure, etc. For those matters involving complex issues, professional legal support should be sought in a timely manner.

公司调查主要涵盖配合外部调查及开展内部调查，这两者紧密相连，因为实践中最复杂、紧迫且敏感的内部调查往往是由外部监管监管环境所引发的。因此，与反腐败相关的公司调查在很大程度上也是由政府的执法行动推动的。在中国法律体系中，外部调查可以进一步分为三块：

• 行政层面立法和由市场监督管理部门（市监部门）开展的执法工作；
• 刑事层面立法及由公安机关主导的不涉及公职人员案件的执法工作；以及
• 纪检监察相关立法及由监察委员会主导的涉及公职人员案件的执法工作。

此外，涉及多个司法管辖区域的跨境调查因受到额外的法律和合规限制和考量而更为复杂。

反腐败行政立法与执法趋势

在实体法层面，《反不正当竞争法》的修订历时已久，新版《反不正当竞争法（修订草案）》已于2024年12月25日正式发布并公开征求意见，不仅增设对于受贿人的违法责任，还明显加强对商业贿赂行为的处罚力度，包括拟对商业贿赂行为的罚款上限从300万元提升至500万元人民币，以及在原本对商业贿赂仅设单位责任的基础上引入对经营者的法定代表人、主要责任和直接责任人员的罚款。另外值得注意的是，国家市场监督管理总局（市监总局）还首次针对商业贿赂风险高发的医药行业发布了合规指引，系统地梳理了医药企业在研发、生产、流通、推广等活动中的风险活动场景，对医药企业防范商业贿赂风险合规管理提供了实操建议。

在程序法层面，国务院在近一年接连出台了一系列关于规范和监督行政执法的指导意见，不仅有利于规范行政执法程序，还有利于优化企业营商环境。尤其在市监执法领域，市监总局在2024年7月就率先发布关于规范涉企行政检查的意见，随后各地市监部门纷纷响应，上海市、浙江省、湖南省等地已陆续出台关于规范涉企行政检查的实施方案。

在执法方面，在市监总局聚焦医疗领域腐败问题、严厉打击商业贿赂违法行为的要求下，全国各地市监部门积极开展相关执法活动。此外，2025年1月，市监总局发布《医药企业防范商业贿赂风险合规指引》（《指引》）积极推进医药领域商业贿赂治理长效机制建设。2025年4月，上海市市场监督管理局发布配套案例手册，作为《指引》的具象补充和生动注解。

反腐败刑事立法与执法趋势

在实体法层面，《刑法修正案（十二）》已于2024年3月1日正式生效，完善了关于商业贿赂犯罪的刑罚规定，包括增加行贿罪从重处罚情形、调整提高涉单位贿赂犯罪的刑罚等；同时新增了民营企业内部腐败相关犯罪，还拓展了为亲友非法牟利罪的适用场景等。

在程序法层面，最高人民检察院（最高检）于2024年12月引发《人民检察院行刑反向衔接工作指引》，要求人民检察院（检察院）对决定不起诉的案件，经审查认为需要给予不起诉人行政处罚的，提出检察建议，移送有关行政主管机关，并对案件处理情况进行跟踪监督，有利于推动刑事司法与行政执法的有效衔接，形成责任追究的闭环。

在刑事司法判决方面，最高人民法院（最高法）公布的年度工作报告统计数据显示，反腐高压态势依然严峻，2024年审结贪污贿赂等职务犯罪案件3万件3.3万人，同比增长22.3%。同时，受贿行贿一起查不断推进，2024年审结行贿犯罪案件2473件2873人，同比增长18.6%。

反腐败监察立法与执法趋势

随着反腐进一步深入，《监察法》于2024年底迎来该法实施六年以来的首次修改，新修《监察法》将于2025年6月1日施行。本次修订主要增设了强制到案、责令候查等监察办案措施，且延长留置期限并对其设定重新计算规则。值得注意的是，监察委员会可以对涉嫌贿赂案件的非公职人员一并管辖。以2024年为例，相关媒体统计至少有47家上市公司的51名董事、监事或高级管理层因涉嫌贿赂案件等职务犯罪而被监察委员会留置，所涉人员即以非公职人员为主。

在执法方面，国内反腐治理稳步推进，2024年全国纪检监察机关共立案87.7万件，留置3.8万人，给予党纪政务处分88.9万人，对行贿方共立案行贿人员2.6万人。同时境外腐败治理不断深入，全国纪检监察机关立案查处跨境腐败案件360件，同时持续推进追逃追赃，共追回外逃人员1597人，追赃182.8亿元。

涉及多法域的调查

在外部调查涉及多个司法管辖区域的情况下，可能会引发法律适用冲突的问题。2018年颁布的《国际刑事司法协助法》（ICJAL）明确禁止以任何方式进行未经授权的刑事调查。2024年4月，国家监察委员会、最高法、最高检等七部门联合印发关于实施ICJAL的具体规定，要求在国务院下建立刑事证据出境审查工作机制。由此，无论是由外国政府直接进行的调查，还是间接地通过指示在中国的公司通过内部调查的方式收集证据，中国境内机构、组织和个人向外国提供刑事证据等信息均需经该工作机制审查同意。此外，《数据安全法》和《个人信息保护法》对向外国司法或执法机构提供存储在中国境内的数据进行了规范。由于跨境调查经常涉及其他受保护数据的传输限制，如国家秘密、重要数据等，企业也应当根据新修订的《反间谍法》《保守国家秘密法》等中国法律法规对所有相关的法律问题进行全面分析。

展望与建议

反腐败在中国始终是核心议题，从中央到地方对腐败问题秉持零容忍的坚定态度，持续更新的立法动态与日益强化的政府执法实践便是有力佐证。在此背景下，企业面临着日益严格的合规监管环境，为有效防控贿赂与腐败相关风险，我们建议企业构建并落实完备的合规管理体系，积极履行合规义务。合规体系应实现全流程、多维度覆盖，涵盖对第三方的尽职调查、财务和运营的内部控制、标准化的礼品和招待政策、业务合作伙伴的管理、有效的报告机制、适当的调查流程、危机管理流程以及对发现问题的整改措施等方面。

值得注意的是，企业在处理潜在的外部调查或问询时，需要给予特别关注并做好充分准备，尤其需要关注任何工作的合法性。通过开展必要的工作，比如内部调查、保全证据、主动与政府部门沟通以及控制媒体报道和公众舆论等，采取合法且恰当的应对措施极有可能有助于降低相关风险。对于那些涉及复杂问题的事项，则应及时寻求专业的法律支持。