The law is confusing in that it says nothing about punishment
for gifts and benefits costing less than $600 or even whether these
transactions can amount to bribes. Thus, tickets to sports events,
which can cost several hundred dollars, wining and dining executives,
or even pharmaceutical samples to physicians remain in a
gray area. The only clue is that Communist Party guidelines prohibit
members from accepting gifts exceeding $500 but that doesn’t
necessarily mean that gifts under $500 won’t be considered a violation
of the law. The trouble with China’s bribery laws is that they
can be interpreted to apply to any gift at all.