China’s latest whistleblowing regulations, the Interim Measures for Reporting and Rewarding Major Violations in the Market Regulation Field, jointly issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Finance, are now in effect. The Measures aim to encourage public reporting of major violations of laws and regulations, promote social governance, and broadly protect the public interest.
Notably, the Measures place a heavy emphasis on protecting the rights and interests of whistleblowers, particularly those in hard-to-monitor industries with a direct impact on the public (eg, pharmaceutical and food). Key provisions within the Measures provide specific guidance on the threshold, requirements, and scope for whistleblowers to obtain monetary awards, as well as the supervision and management of the reward system.
Importantly, the Measures also contain provisions seeking to deter fraudulent reporting by whistleblowers.
What can be reported
“Major violations” which may be reported are defined as acts that can trigger criminal liability or administrative penalties including forced suspensions of production and business operations, forced closures, revocation of licenses, confiscations, and relatively heavy fines.
The Measures list four categories of “major violations” that should be reported:
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