Short answer: yes. Since May 2011, Chinese criminal law has punished paying bribes to foreign public officials and officials of international public organisations, under Article 164(2) of the Criminal Law – and the prosecution threshold is low: RMB 30,000 for an individual, RMB 200,000 for a company.

What the law says

Article 164 was rewritten by Criminal Law Amendment (VIII), which took effect on 1 May 2011 and added a second paragraph: whoever, in order to obtain improper commercial benefits, gives money or property to a foreign public official or an official of an international public organisation is punished in accordance with the preceding paragraph. That preceding paragraph (Article 164(1), as amended by Amendment (IX) in 2015) carries up to three years’ imprisonment or criminal detention plus a fine where the amount is relatively large, and three to ten years plus a fine where the amount is huge.

The filing thresholds come from Article 12 of the 2022 Provisions on Standards for Filing and Prosecuting Criminal Cases (II): an individual payment of RMB 30,000 or more, or a company payment of RMB 200,000 or more, is enough to open a case. Article 164 also makes the paying company criminally liable – a fine on the unit, plus liability for its directly responsible managers and other directly responsible personnel – while a bribe-giver who voluntarily discloses the bribery before prosecution may have the punishment reduced or waived.

What this means in practice

Three points matter. First, foreign public official is broad: it covers anyone holding a legislative, administrative or judicial office in a foreign country, anyone exercising a public function for a foreign country or public agency, and officials of international public organisations. Second, improper commercial benefit is the trigger: a payment made to win a contract, a licence or a customs clearance sits squarely inside the offence. Third, nothing has to happen inside China – paying an overseas customs officer from an offshore account to clear a shipment for a Chinese exporter is exactly the fact pattern the provision targets.

In practice this is an evidence problem more than a legal-theory problem. Facilitation payments, consultancy fees to intermediaries who clearly pass the money on, and gifts routed through local agents are the usual starting points, and because a company can be liable as a unit, the internal paperwork often decides the case.

Illustrative scenario (hypothetical): a Chinese construction company bids for a port project abroad. Its local manager pays USD 40,000 in advisory fees to an official at the port authority. When a foreign investigation surfaces the payment, Chinese prosecutors open a case under Article 164(2); as the amount exceeds RMB 200,000, the company is charged as a unit and the manager is charged personally.

The bottom line: bribery of foreign officials is a real Chinese offence with a low filing threshold, so a routine facilitation payment can become a criminal file.

FAQ

Q: Is paying a foreign official really a crime in China?

A: Yes. Article 164(2) of the Criminal Law has criminalised it since Amendment (VIII) took effect on 1 May 2011.

Q: How much is enough to be prosecuted?

A: RMB 30,000 or more paid by an individual, or RMB 200,000 or more paid by a company, under Article 12 of the 2022 filing standards.

Q: What is the maximum sentence?

A: The same range as bribery of non-state functionaries: up to three years plus a fine, and three to ten years plus a fine where the amount is huge, under Article 164(1).

Q: Can the company be punished, or only the employee?

A: Both. A unit that gives the bribe is fined, and its directly responsible managers and personnel are punished as well.

Q: Does it matter that the payment was made abroad?

A: No. The offence is the giving of money or property to a foreign public official or international organisation official, wherever the money moves.

Q: Can confessing early reduce the punishment?

A: Yes. A bribe-giver who voluntarily discloses the bribery before being prosecuted may have the punishment reduced or waived.

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Wang Guan | Co-founder, Beijing Haolue Law Firm | +86 17813108512