Shanghai takes aim at medical bribery

The city's health commission also urged medical institutions to keep a record of commercial bribery in the field of drug and medical equipment procurement.

Wu Tianbing, a doctor for nearly 20 years, said the regulation was "an effective step forward in the industry for both medical staff and pharmaceutical corporations to regulate behavior".

"Compared with previous stipulations, the new one is more specific to guide medical workers to set strict demands on themselves," Wu said.

Xu Qian, an endocrinologist, applauded the new regulation, but also suggested greater efforts were needed to root out commercial bribery in the industry.

"Reasonable income distribution, effective supervision and financial support from government to the medical sector are all essential to tackle the issue and to promote a healthy medical industry," she said.

China has intensified regulations on commercial bribery in the medical field in recent years. In 2014, a Chinese court found pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline guilty of bribing doctors and hospitals in order to increase sales of the company's products in China.

Among other things, the company was charged with using travel agencies and pharmaceutical industry groups to channel bribes to recipients. The company was fined 3 billion yuan - the largest corporate penalty ever imposed by Chinese authorities.

Cao Chen contributed to this story.