The Draft Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law Officially Published

On July 26, 2023, the Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft) was released on the website of the National People’s Congress (“NPC”). The draft is open for public comment until August 24, 2023.

There are eight articles in the draft, seven of which amend the Criminal Law. It mainly refines the regulations on the crime of offering bribes and corruption by individuals from private enterprises. It adjusts the minimum sentencing standard and the levels of punishment for bribery to be consistent with the crime of accepting bribes, and clarifies six types of situations, including multiple instances of bribery, bribery to multiple individuals, bribery committed by state officials. It also strengthens the penalty for the crime of bribery committed by units. Originally, the maximum punishment was five years of fixed-term imprisonment, but it will now be divided into two categories: the first category is “imprisonment of up to three years or detention”, while the second category is “imprisonment of more than three years but less than ten years, with a fine.” The current criminal law stipulates offenses by personnel of state-owned companies or enterprises, such as illegal operations of similar businesses, illegal profiting for relatives or friends, and abusing power for personal gain through underpriced stock transfers or selling state-owned assets. It extends the scope of these crimes to private business personnel.