Opening up shop or allying with business partners in a country that’s part of an emerging market can bring with it some unique challenges. Working through the regulatory landscape in jurisdictions with fast-growing economies, especially if it’s growing a bit faster than the legal regime, isn’t always easy. This is especially true when it comes to anti-corruption, where legal rules and cultural norms sometimes collide and make it harder to do business in a compliant way.
It behooves companies to keep an eye on how anti-corruption is evolving in such markets, and recently China has been a major spot to watch. Chinese President Xi Jinping has cracked down on corruption within the Communist Party, in a campaign that state propaganda calls “killing tigers and swatting flies,” meaning that both big and small players are in the government’s crosshairs.
