Different places have different commercial cultures which give rise to different ways of giving bribes. The Chinese market has usually had fierce competition among market participants. This is especially true in the field of sales. That is why many a lot of merchants have thought of innovative ways of giving bribes in order to increase their sales. Below is an interesting case on such a point.

A trade company in Xiangtan city wanted to increase the market share of its own brand liquor. Therefore, it had made arrangements with local restaurant waiters. The company recycled bottle caps from these waiters with a price of one yuan (about 0.16 USD) per cap. These waiters were greatly incentivized to promote the company’s liquor to restaurant customers, because the sum of financial reward was based on the number of bottle caps. In this way, the company successfully increased its local market share and elbowed out other competitors. The Xiangtan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau determined that its conduct has violated article 7 of the Anti-unfair Competition Law (AUCL) and constituted commercial bribery within the law’s definition. In addition to ordering the company to take immediate corrective actions, the Bureau confiscated 10,305 yuan worth of its illegal gain (about 1617 USD) and placed a fine of 150,000 yuan (about 23,535 USD).

There are a lot of overseas food and beverage brands that operate in Chinese market. Many of them are utilizing local talents to run their businesses. And it is very easy for them to run afoul of local anti-bribery laws such as AUCL. It means not only they have to hire local sales people to compete but they must also engage local compliance officers to rein in their ‘creative passions’.