First draft of bribery amendment to be improved

A draft amendment to the Criminal Law — mainly concerning penalties for bribe and graft in private firms — will be improved following its first review by national lawmakers, an official from China's top legislature said.

The draft was submitted to the Standing Commission of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body, for its first reading on Tuesday. In general, a draft becomes law after being reviewed three times.

To implement the central leadership's requirements on combating bribery, the draft adds six circumstances that merit severe punishment for bribe-givers, such as offering bribes repeatedly, to multiple people or to state functionaries.

It also states that bribing parties involved in major national projects, or engaged in the fields of the environment, finance, security production, food, medications, education, health, social insurance and disaster relief, will also face harsher penalties.

"We'll optimize the draft amendment according to ideas gathered from legislators during its first review," Wang Aili, head of the criminal law department of the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said while explaining the draft to journalists on Tuesday.

Calling on law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities to focus on cases involving bribery, he suggested that general legal awareness should be strengthened to discourage people from benefiting through the offer of bribes.

In addition, the draft clarifies penalties for private employees, who deliberately act against company interest. Wang said that the revision is necessary because irregularities, including embezzlement, bribery and illegal profiting by friends and family relatives, have become commonplace in the private sector in recent years.

He added that the revision will strengthen protection of the property of private firms, and will provide them the legal basis and means to combat corruption.