China to launch a new pharmaceutical probe
CHINA is intensifying its investigation into bribery in the pharmaceutical and medical services sector with a fresh three-month probe slated to begin today, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The probe by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), one of China’s anti-trust regulators, is aimed at stamping out bribery, fraud and other anti-competitive business practices in various sectors, Xinhua said
“Commercial bribery not only leads to artificially high prices, it undermines market order in terms of fair competition and corrupts social morals and professionalism,” the report said. The SAIC will hand down severe punishment for bribery in the bidding process for drugs and medical services as this hurts the interests of the Chinese people, it said.