According to the latest work report of the anti-commercial bribery office of Foshan, Guangzhou Pepsi Cola Beverage Company, a subsidiary of Pepsi, was involved in commercial bribery and has been fined CNY700,000 as a result.
The report stated that between May 2007 and February 2008, Guangzhou Pepsi offered CNY247,900 as bribes to 47 retailers and supermarkets in Foshan, asking them to display the company's Tropicana products in a particular way. The company made a revenue of CNY3.05 million and a profit of CNY650,000 as a result.
According to China's regulation against commercial bribery, commercial bribery refers to bribes paid by business entities and their employees in order to buy or sell products and services; and using bribes to gain advantage over competitors for business purposes is one of the most distinctive characteristics of commercial bribery.
Besides having the illegal profit confiscated and being fined CNY50,000, Guangzhou Pepsi has been asked to correct the wrongdoing immediately. So far, Guangzhou Pepsi has not given any direct response to media reports of this bad behavior.
Earlier this week, in an unrelated incident, a batch of condensed orange juice imported by Guangzhou Pepsi was rejected by the Chinese customs for containing excessive yeast.
