China's top judicial bodies issued new guidelines refining how criminal law targets middlemen involved in corruption. The joint interpretation mandates prosecuting all participants in the corruption chain, not just the primary bribe-givers and recipients.

China’s top judicial bodies have detailed ways that the country’s criminal law can be applied to corrupt middlemen, refining the criteria for tackling “new and hidden forms of corruption”. The guidance was part of a judicial interpretation released jointly by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Friday. In it, the bodies highlight the need to enforce the law against all participants in the corruption chain, for the direct bribe-givers and recipients to...