China unveiled a litany of bribery and misconduct allegations against GlaxoSmithKline GSK.LN -0.26% PLC, a move that industry experts said could presage a broader crackdown in a lucrative market for pharmaceutical and medical companies.
a litany of：一连串 bribery：贿赂，行贿 misconduct：行为不检 presage：预感，前兆
lucrative：有利可图的，赚钱的 pharmaceutical：药物，制药的
At a news conference on Monday, officials within the Ministry of Public Security's economic crime investigation unit said four high-level Chinese Glaxo executives have been detained over allegations that they 'severely violated' Chinese law. The officials accused Glaxo staffers of using travel agencies as vehicles to bribe government officials, hospitals and doctors in order to sell more drugs at higher prices.
detaine：扣留 allegation：主张，断言
'A large part of their strategy for sales and marketing has been to conspire and encourage the possibility of commercial bribery,' said Gao Feng, a ministry official spearheading the probe of the U.K. pharmaceutical company.
conspire：共谋，协力 spearheading：矛头，先锋
Mr. Gao said Glaxo and the travel agencies exchanged 3 billion Chinese yuan ($489 million) between them since 2007. Mr. Gao didn't make clear whether any of that money was used for legitimate business purposes. He alleged that the travel agencies also offered what he called sexual bribes to senior Glaxo executives to keep the company's business.
legitimate：合法的，正当的
In a statement Monday, Glaxo said it is deeply 'concerned and disappointed by these serious allegations of fraudulent behavior and ethical misconduct.' It added that 'GSK has zero tolerance for any behaviour of this nature' and that the alleged behavior would be a breach of the company's standards.
fraudulent：欺诈的，不诚实的 affluent：富裕的，丰富的
Health care is a fast-growing business in China, where increasingly affluent consumers demand better care and the government is under public pressure to widen a traditionally skimpy social safety net. China's health-care spending is poised to triple to $1 trillion by 2020, according to McKinsey & Co. Sales of pharmaceuticals in China reached $82 billion in 2012, up 18.2% from a year earlier, according to risk-assessment firm Business Monitor International.
risk assessment：风险评估 mire：泥潭 intermediary：中介，媒介
Yet industry insiders say that China's health-care sector is mired in systemic corruption. Many medical companies operate through intermediaries to reach more corners of a diffuse market, while doctors often look to buffer low salaries with perks. 'Corruption is widely seen as a major impediment to government health-care reform initiatives in China,' said Hong Kong-based health-care expert Jason Mann, managing director of investment firm Konus Capital. He added that further crackdowns are likely and will be publicized to push forward greater reform.
impediment：口吃，妨碍
Western antibribery advocates tend to view China's anticorruption campaigns skeptically. The country in recent years has created laws aimed at targeting corporate bribery in the wake of a global crackdown on overseas corporate corruption. But Chinese officials have launched few widespread investigations that have resulted in negative outcomes for companies, according to Mike Koehler, a law professor at Southern Illinois University.
skeptically：怀疑地 in the wake of：紧紧跟随，仿效
One prominent exception: In 2010, a Chinese court handed down a 10-year prison sentence to an Australian employee of the mining company Rio Tinto RIO.LN +0.27% PLC, finding him guilty of accepting around $935,000 in bribes from steelmakers and stealing commercial secrets that undermined China's steel industry. The employee admitted he accepted bribes on two occasions from steelmakers.
undermine：破坏，危害
China's allegations against Glaxo stem from an investigation that publicly kicked off in late June, when law-enforcement officials visited several Glaxo offices, seizing documents and detaining some employees. The high-profile investigation has hit Glaxo in one of its most important and fastest-growing markets, where it has more than 5,000 employees and half a dozen factories and research labs.
Glaxo said in its statement it will cooperate with Chinese authorities in the investigation of new allegations and is reviewing its third-party agency relationships. It also said Glaxo has stopped using travel agencies identified in the investigation and is conducting a thorough review of historic travel-agency transactions, adding that the company respects Chinese law and expects all staff to abide by it.
abide：持续，容忍，停留
Mr. Gao said that Glaxo's China chief left the country in late June, as officials began reporting details of their investigation.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Glaxo's top executive in China, general manager Mark Reilly, left the country in early July for London and is currently working in the company's London offices. This person described Mr. Reilly's travel as a routine business trip.
Mr. Reilly was in Glaxo's China offices when officials from the Ministry of Public Security first visited in late June to collect documents at the start of their investigation, this person said. Mr. Reilly wasn't questioned or detained, the person added. Chinese investigators visited several Glaxo offices, including those in Beijing, Shanghai and Changsha. Mr. Reilly couldn't be reached to comment Monday.
Glaxo's sales in China last year exceeded £800 million ($1.2 billion), representing a fairly modest 3% of the company's global sales of £26.4 billion. But like most pharmaceutical companies, Glaxo is counting on China and other emerging markets to drive future revenue growth as sales in the U.S. and Europe stagnate or decline. While Glaxo's pharmaceutical and vaccine revenue last year fell by 7% in Europe, to £5 billion, and by 2% in the U.S., to £7 billion, it rose by 17% in China, to £759 million.
stagnate：淤塞 vaccine：疫苗
At the Chinese ministry's briefing, Mr. Gao signaled further scrutiny of foreign businesses in China. 'No one has asked foreign companies to be a moral model, but they have to serve as good examples,' he said.
When asked how many foreign companies are likely suspects for bribery in China, China's Mr. Gao said he couldn't answer, but added, 'you will have to ask them only one question: Do you sleep well at night?'
Pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer Inc. PFE -0.07% ─the largest pharmaceutical company by market share in China, according to health-care information provider IMS Health─say that they have in place anticorruption policies and procedures to maintain public trust. 'Corporate integrity is an absolute priority for Pfizer,' a company statement said.
U. S. authorities also have stepped up their scrutiny of multinational companies' activities in China. Since 2010, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have been investigating whether a number of pharmaceutical makers, including Glaxo, violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, by paying bribes to government officials in more than half a dozen countries, including China. Under the FCPA, doctors and other employees of government-run hospitals are considered government officials. Glaxo and the other companies say they are cooperating with the U.S. investigation.
scrutiny：详细审查，监视
Meanwhile, Glaxo itself has been investigating allegations from an anonymous tipster that its China-based sales staff was involved in widespread bribery of doctors to prescribe drugs, in some cases for unauthorized uses, between 2004 and 2010. A Glaxo spokesman in June said the company is investigating the allegations.
anonymous：匿名的 tipster：情报贩子，密报者
On Monday, Chinese officials gave further details of their current Glaxo investigation to local state-run media outlets. China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that detained executives include Liang Hong, Glaxo's China vice president and operations manager; Zhao Hongyan, a legal-affairs director for the company; Zhang Guowei, a human-resources director; and Huang Hong, a business-development manager.
The detained executives couldn't be reached for comment. Phones rang unanswered at the company's offices in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou.