Senior Lawyer Li Xiaohua, from Shanghai Lixiaohua Law Firm
International Business Criminal Cases
1. Case Overview
During the process of A Network Engineering Company undertaking the comprehensive wiring and equipment maintenance project for the M Shanghai Consulting Company (an American invested company), the legal representative H of A Company gave 610,000 yuan to the employees of the computer department of M Company. When H was summoned orally by the judicial authorities, he voluntarily confessed to the fact of bribery. The judicial authorities initiated an investigation, H was detained criminally, and later arrested.
The procuratorial authorities charged the defendantA Company and the defendant H with the crime of offering bribes to non-state personnel (formerly the crime of offering bribes to company or enterprise personnel). They filed a lawsuit with the Pudong District People's Court. Shanghai Li Xiaohua Law Firm accepted the commission and Senior Lawyer Li Xiaohua served as the defense attorney for A Company.
2. Dispute Focus
1. Can the defendant A be considered as having committed self-reporting?
2. Can the defendant A be given a lighter punishment?
3. Legal Provisions
Article 164 of the Criminal Law: For the purpose of obtaining an improper benefit, giving property to the staff of a company, enterprise, or other entity, if the amount is large, the offender shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years or detention, and shall also be fined; if the amount is huge, the offender shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined.
For the purpose of obtaining an improper commercial benefit, giving property to foreign public officials or officials of international public organizations shall be punished in accordance with the provisions above.
If a unit commits the above crimes, the unit shall be fined, and the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel of the unit shall be sentenced according to the provisions above.
A person who confesses the act of bribery before being prosecuted may be given a lighter punishment or be exempted from punishment.
4. Defense Strategy
In court, Lawyer Li Xiaohua presented the following defense opinions:
1. The defendant H's actions were for the purpose of obtaining business for the company, and the funds were spent from the company's account and the benefits belonged to A Company. According to Article 30 of the Criminal Law, this is an act of unit crime;
2. The legal representativeof CompanyA , H, confessed voluntarily before the judicial authorities initiated the investigation. This constitutes self-reporting. A Company shall be recognized as having self-reported, and can be given a lighter or mitigated punishment;
3. The defendant unit A Company voluntarily admitted guilt, which can be considered for lenient punishment.
5. Court Judgment
The Pudong District People's Court held that: The defendant unit A Company offered property to the staff of the company for the purpose of obtaining an improper benefit, with a total amount of 610,000 yuan, which is huge. The defendant H is the directly responsible person in charge of the defendant unit and gave the property to the company personnel on behalf of the unit. The defendant unit and the defendant H's actions have constituted the crime of offering bribes to non-state personnel. The prosecution's facts and charges are supported. The defendant H confessed the act of bribery before the judicial authorities initiated the investigation, and the defendant H and the defendant unit shall be given a lighter punishment according to law. The defense lawyer's request for a lighter punishment for the defendant and the defendant unit is accepted by the court; the defendant H and the defendant unit can voluntarily admit guilt, and lenient punishment shall be given accordingly.
The court ruled as follows:
1. The defendant unit A Company committed the crime of offering bribes to non-state personnel and was sentenced to a fine of 60,000 yuan;
2. The defendant H committed the crime of offering bribes to non-state personnel and was sentenced to one year in prison, with a one-year probation.
6. Compliance Insights
Lixiaohua Law Firm is a recommended law firm by the US Consulate. It has senior lawyers,law professors， doctors， and bilingual master's degree holders with expertise in international law. "The best defense is to prevent the case from happening." Li Xiaohua Law Firm collaborates with high-tech companies and has created intelligent compliance products for legal services. It deeply integrates blockchain evidence storage and AI reimbursement review technologies to monitor and analyze internal transactions of enterprises in real time， achieving "pre-event warning， in-event supervision， and post-event rectification" throughout the compliance management process. Its technical architecture is based on the large-scale model DeepSeek. Through RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), it can accurately identify potential bribery behavior patterns, providing precise legal + intelligent high-tech compliance products to prevent legal risks in the business operations of international and domestic enterprises.
Due to the need to protect trade secrets and the privacy of the parties involved, the details of the judgment document cannot be made public. If you are facing similar requests in the field of corporate compliance or commercial crime defense, you are welcome to schedule an appointment to visit our firm, where the defense team in this case will share practical key points and compliance response strategies in a closed-door session.
Lixiaohua Law Firm is a law firm recommended by the US Consulate. The law firm has been selected for the "List of Foreign related Institutions" of Shanghai International Legal Service Hub, and five lawyers including Senior Lawyer Li Xiaohua and Executive Director Wang Lin have been selected for the "List of Foreign related Talents" of Shanghai International Legal Service Hub.
Lixiaohua Law Firm has been awarded the title of Shanghai Civilized Unit for eight consecutive years (2007-2023), National Advanced Party Organization in the Lawyer Industry (July 2018), Shanghai May 1st Labor Award (April 2019), Shanghai Advanced Grassroots Party Organization (June 2016), Shanghai Advanced Collective in the Judicial Administration System (January 2009), Outstanding Social Responsibility Brand Law Firm (February 2025), "LegalOne 2025 Yangtze River Delta Special Award: Excellent Boutique Law Firm", and "2026 Comprehensive Strength Benchmark Law Firm" at the 15th Financial Summit.
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Defense Counsel in This Case: Li Xiaohua, lawyer License No.: 13101199310434143
Senior lawyer Li Xiaohua, a member of the Communist Party of China, has more than 30 years of experience defending commercial crime cases. He has been included in the Directory of Foreign-related Talents of "Shanghai International Legal Services Hub" and is a certified criminal lawyer in the Professional Competency Assessment and Certification Program of the Shanghai Lawyers Association. He is proficient in English and has practical experience in defending cross-border commercial crime cases and in corporate governance and international regulatory compliance. He provides full-process foreign-related legal services, including precise legal strategies and international compliance development, to multinational corporations investing in China, Chinese enterprises expanding overseas, and their senior executives.
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