Legal Question in Business Law in China

We want to send money to a company in China to purchase goods.

They want us to divide the payment and send it to two separate accounts, one in the business name the other in what appears to be a personal account.

Question; can we be held liable in any way if they are doing something illegal on their end with the money we send them for the purchases?


Asked on 2/27/10, 8:06 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Matthew Callis

The short answer is yes. Having practiced in China for 2 years now I can tell you bribery and kickbacks are common place. One example of trouble you can encounter is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This essentially makes it illegal to bribe a foreign official. You must be careful of this in China as many businessmen are also members of the communist party and fall under this act.

However, I would be more concerned with why they want the money sent that way, as a practical concern. Consider hiring a representative for your business in China, they can be inexpensive and useful.

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Answered on 3/05/10, 12:29 am


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