Party disciplinary inspectors to draft China’s FCPA
China's taking a page from America's anti-corruption playbook.
On Wednesday, Xinhua released the communiqué of the fourth plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Party's anti-graft enforcers.
For 2025, priority No. 1 is ensuring the implementation of reform agenda approved in July.
- Theoretical education was the top priority last year.
Inspectors promised to keep the heat on the finance, energy, healthcare, and construction industries, as well as state-owned enterprises.
And they will broaden their anti-corruption efforts to target:
- Fire departments
- Colleges
- Economic development zones
- Sports
- Tobacco
One notable to-do item is to draft the Anti-Cross-Border Corruption Law (ACBCL), akin to the US’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Get smart: Companies with manufacturing facilities in economic development zones nationwide could see their government interactions over the past few years scrutinized, and local government contacts reshuffled as a result of the crackdown.
What to watch: It's unclear what impact the ACBCL will have on foreign companies.
- The law aims to curb corrupt practices by domestically domiciled enterprises and individuals engaged in overseas investments or business activities.
- As drafting gets underway, we will be looking to see how it applies to foreign companies’ China entities and foreign individuals in China.