BEIJING (AP) Foreign companies believe they are unfairly being singled out for scrutiny in bribery and pricing investigations, the biggest European business group in China said Thursday.
The comments by officials of the European Chamber of Commerce in China follow announcements about fines imposed on dairy suppliers over pricing issues and an investigation into possibly bribery by employees of drug manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi.
In pricing investigations, the chamber's member companies believe "there is a disproportion of how foreign companies are covered on this issue" compared with Chinese rivals, said its president, Davide Cucino. He said foreign companies also believe accusations against them receive more prominent publicity from state-controlled media.
Cucino was speaking at the release of a report by the chamber, which represents 1,700 companies in China, on business conditions and suggestions for regulatory changes. This year's report appeals to Beijing to open government-dominated industries wider to private competition.
Officials of the chamber have met with Chinese authorities to discuss the pricing investigations, said Cucino. He said the chamber stressed that any action should be according to law but gave no other details of the meeting.