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Reuters

A Chinese police investigation into drug maker GlaxoSmithKline has discovered that alleged bribery of doctors in China was co-ordinated by the British company and was not the work of individual employees, state media reported on Tuesday.
Police in July detained four senior Chinese executives at GSK over allegations the company funnelled up to 3 billion yuan (HK$3.8 billion) to travel agencies to facilitate bribes to doctors and officials to boost the sale of its medicines.
“It is becoming clear that it is organised by GSK China rather than ... sales people’s individual behaviour,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.
GSK officials could not be reached for comment.

	When the problems were exposed, the company pushed all responsibilities to individual employees

	Guo Jianhua, GSK China
The company has said some of its senior Chinese executives appear to have broken the law, and that it has zero tolerance for bribery.
The GSK investigation is one of several into China’s pharmaceutical sector. Others have focused on how drug makers price their medicines in the world’s second-largest economy.
Xinhua quoted Huang Hong, general manager for GSK’s business operations in China and one of the detained executives, as saying the company had set goals for annual sales growth as high as 25 per cent. That rate was 7 to 8 percentage points above the average growth rate for the industry, Huang said.
GSK implemented salary policies based on sales volumes and such goals could not be achieved without “dubious corporate behaviour”, Huang said.
Official media routinely get access to detainees in China. Other detained GSK executives have been interviewed on state TV.
China accounts for just 3.5 per cent of GSK’s global drug sales but demand is growing fast – up 17 per cent last year – and the company is investing heavily, with more than 7,000 staff in China, as well as five factories and a research centre.
Guo Jianhua, head of recruitment at GSK China, was quoted by the official People’s Daily newspaper as saying the company had turned a blind eye to illegal behaviour.
“When the problems were exposed, the company pushed all responsibilities to individual employees,” Guo said.
It was unclear which problems Guo was referring to or if he was one of the detained executives.
Corruption in China’s pharmaceutical industry is widespread, fuelled in part by low base salaries for doctors at the country’s 13,500 public hospitals.
Industry executives say ties to doctors at hospitals are key to sales, with pharmaceutical companies as well as medical device makers often sponsoring research conferences to win their favour.
The People’s Daily quoted Huang as saying GSK had set up a special team dedicated to maintaining relationships with key hospital officials, with an annual budget of nearly 10 million yuan.
Since the GSK scandal broke whistleblowers from other foreign drug makers have come forward to make accusations of bribery against their companies in China.


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GlaxoSmithKline

GSK China bribery co-ordinated at company level, says Xinhua

GSK has said some of its senior Chinese executives appear to have broken the law, and that it has zero tolerance for bribery. Photo: Reuters

GSK case reveals bribery as a lifeline for Chinese hospitals

A doctor draws blood from a patient at a hospital in Shanghai. Corruption at hospitals stems largely from doctors’ low base salaries Photo: Reuters

CT chest scans at a hospital in Bozhou city, Anhui Province. A doctor fresh out of medical school in Beijing earns only about 3,000 yuan a month. Photo: Xinhua

London-based GlaxoSmithKline has been accused by China of bribing officials and doctors. Photo: Reuters

GSK says senior executives appear to have broken Chinese law 

A police vehicle is parked behind the GlaxoSmithKline building in Hounslow, west London. Photo: Reuters

GSK graft 'nationwide and systemic', state radio cites saleswoman as saying

China state media says 18 more detained in GSK probe

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) China company at the Tianjin Economic and Technoogical Development Area in Tianjin, north China. Photo: Xinhua

High-powered GSK team flown in to aid China graft probe

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKlines factory in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

Police have arrested 18 GSK employees in Zhengzhou. Photo: Xinhua

News

China

GSK investigation shows alleged bribery of doctors in China co-ordinated by British company, says Xinhua


GSK China bribery co-ordinated at company level, says Xinhua

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}GSK investigation shows alleged bribery of doctors in China co-ordinated by British company, says Xinhua

GSK investigation shows alleged bribery of doctors in China co-ordinated by British company, says Xinhua