Beijing time July 17^th, a spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline said that Beijing has barred GlaxoSmithKline's finance director in China from leaving the country, as police accuse GlaxoSmithKline of bribing officials and doctors.

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According to Reuters, the travel restriction on Steve Nechelput, the finance director of GSK in China, was imposed at the end of June, since when he has continued to carry out his work and remains free to move around the country. He has not been questioned, arrested or detained by police so far.

Chinese police accuse GSK of transferring more than 3 billion RMB ($489 million) to 700 travel agencies and consultancies in the past six years in order to bribe officials and doctors. GSK responded to the accusation quickly and said the company felt "shameful" about the whole situation. GSY also expressed deeply concerned on the allegations.

According to The Telegraph, at least 30 GSK employees, including five or six executives, are currently under house arrest and constant surveillance. At least one British national is involved and being given consular assistance. The British embassy is providing the British national with consular assistance. But British embassy refuses to disclose whether the person is related to the GSK bribery investigations.

Chinese market is becoming increasingly important for large pharmaceutical companies. Multinational pharmaceutical companies are relying on the growth in emerging markets to offset the slower sales in Western countries, where many former top-selling medicines have lost patent protection.

Based on the statistical data from IMS Health, an institution tracking pharmaceutical industry trends, it shows that China will overtake Japan as the world's second-biggest drugs market only after the United States by 2016.