Effective May 1, 2026, the Interpretation (II) on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Embezzlement and Bribery (Judicial Interpretation [2026] No. 6), jointly issued by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, officially came into force. The threshold for the crime of accepting bribes by non-state functionaries has been lowered from 60,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan, realizing equal conviction and punishment for both public and private sector offenders. Rebates in insurance, kickbacks in the pharmaceutical industry, price differentials in procurement and sales commissions will constitute a criminal offense once the total amount reaches 30,000 yuan.

The following are five high-risk occupations:

1. Insurance Industry

Rebates have long been regarded as an unspoken rule in the insurance sector. Following the implementation of the new rules, the following practices may cross the criminal red line: Insurance agents or brokers offering clients rebates in the form of cash, shopping cards, gifts, travel services, physical examinations or premium discounts; clients actively demanding or accepting such rebates; insurance institutions secretly paying kickbacks to staff of policy-holding entities; and claims adjusters soliciting illicit gains during the claims settlement process. All forms of benefit transfer, including cash rebates, WeChat red envelopes, premium waivers and complimentary medical check-up packages, shall be calculated and included in the total amount.

2. Pharmaceutical Industry

The greatest impact of the new rules on pharmaceutical enterprises lies in the non-negligible corporate liability, rather than merely penalizing individual medical representatives. Even without written approval from corporate headquarters, any irregular practices that objectively help the company expand distribution channels or boost sales may lead to accountability. It is no longer feasible for pharmaceutical companies to shift bribery liabilities onto individual medical representatives. The threshold for holding entities liable for offering bribes to medical institutions has been reduced from 400,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan.

A case reported by Fangda Partners in 2022 serves as a warning: An employee of Company A paid commissions to pharmacy sales staff via WeChat to drive sales of its distributed products. Such new types of commercial bribery are highly covert. Under the new rules, offenders will face criminal liability once the cumulative amount hits 30,000 yuan.

3. Procurement Positions

Procurement roles are high-risk areas for petty corruption within enterprises. Typical risky behaviors include procurement managers accepting kickbacks and gratuities from suppliers; receiving improper benefits during bidding and tendering processes; turning a blind eye to substandard goods during acceptance inspections in exchange for illicit gains; and taking bribes via new payment methods such as WeChat transfers.

Guiding Case No. 1543 released by the Supreme People’s Court recorded a typical incident: The supervision department of Company A received an anonymous email reporting that an employee named Zhang had secretly taken kickbacks. Zhang was eventually convicted of accepting bribes as a non-state functionary.

Another alarming case involves Jiang, a former procurement manager of an electric vehicle company in Shandong Province. From 2017 to 2020, he accepted bribes from 36 different parties. For a single procurement order worth 100,000 yuan, a 30% kickback would reach 30,000 yuan, which directly crosses the criminal red line under the new regulations.

4. Real Estate & Engineering Sector

This sector is rife with illicit gratuities and kickbacks in engineering projects, as well as improper benefit transfers during bidding procedures. For a subcontract valued at 500,000 yuan, a so-called “service fee” of 6% amounts to exactly 30,000 yuan.

5. Sales Positions

Risks mainly include suppliers paying commissions to frontline sales staff and hidden kickbacks in channel cooperation. If an employee receives 5,000 yuan in illicit income each month, the total sum will reach the criminal threshold within half a year.

Enterprises may advance compliance work through the following four measures:

1. Company-wide Training: Train staff on what now counts as bribery, cash, cards, gifts, rebates, WeChat transfers, and that it carries personal criminal liability.

2. Job Segregation: Prevent a single person from taking charge of procurement application, goods acceptance and reimbursement approval.

3. Internal Control Mechanism: Set up an anonymous reporting channel.

4. Leniency for Surrender of Illicit Gains: The new rules clarify the criteria for voluntary surrender of illegal proceeds, encouraging active rectification of violations.

By Michelle Zhu, Office Supervisor