China has a patchy record when it comes to clamping down on bribes offered by its firms that are venturing abroad, say observers, and it remains to be seen if stricter laws will be enforced by corporate watchdogs.
Tham Yuet Ming, a Hong Kong-based partner at DLA Piper, a law firm in the United States, said: 'China has not shown consistency in the enforcement of its laws, so it is difficult to tell if there will be consistency in the enforcement of its amended anti-bribery legislation.'
Since May last year, Chinese firms operating abroad have been subject to tightened anti-corruption provisions contained in amendments to Article 164 of China's Criminal Law. The provisions expanded the scope of China's existing anti-corruption laws by criminalising the offering and giving of bribes to foreign officials and officials in international public organisations.
'In practice, it will be difficult to enforce Article 164,' Tham said.
'If the bribery happens abroad, there may be practical difficulties getting evidence and you need the co-operation of foreign governments or prosecutors.'
Tham said he doubted whether Article 164 would be enforced with the same rigour as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) under which US firms operate, or the UK Bribery Act.
'Is Article 164 going to be enforced at the same level as the FCPA? Probably not, but the key point is [that] this is a move in the right direction for the Chinese government and brings them in line with countries in the OECD,' Tham said.