Who to Bribe in China and How Much

Kickback. Carrot. Sweetener. Inducement. Backhander. They’re all synonyms for “bribe.”
Whatever you call it, bribery’s just a normal part of doing business in certain corners of the world. China, for example. For all its pre-Olympics tightening-up, business in China is still fueled by bribery. At least that’s what TRACE International has found. TRACE – a U.S.-based, non-profit association that counsels international companies on bribery – says that 148 reports detailing bribery demands in China were filed through its anonymous reporting system between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008.

How did it break down? Who requested the bribes, what did they request, and how much did they want?

* Major requestors included government officials (38 percent), government employees (14 percent), police, judiciary, and communist party officials (33 percent), with NGO reps, private companies and others taking up the remainder.

* What were they asking for? Cash or its equivalent made up the bulk of the bribery requests (77 percent). Nine percent requested hospitality and/or entertainment. The rest wanted things like “gifts,” “travel,” and “sexual favors.”

* The amount of bribes ranged from $20 to more than $500,000, with most requests coming in between $101 and $10,000.

Bribery

Bribery Act 2010

The Bribery Act reforms the illegal law to offer a new, modern and complete scheme of bribery offences that will enable courts and prosecutors to respond more effectively to bribery at home or abroad.

The Act will:

* provide a more effective legal framework to battle bribery in the public or private sectors

* replace the fragmented and complex offences at common law and in the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889-1916

* create two general offences covering the offering, promising or giving of an advantage, and requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of an advantage

* create a discrete offence of bribery of a foreign public official

* create a new offence of failure by a commercial organisation to prevent a bribe being paid for or on its behalf (it will be a defence if the organisation has adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery)

* require the Secretary of State to publish guidance about procedures that relevant commercial organisations can put in place to prevent bribery on their behalf

* help tackle the threat that bribery poses to economic progress and development around the world.