GlaxoSmithKline has become the latest pharmaceuticals company to be accused of paying bribes to win business in China. In the past year, Eli Lilly and Pfizer have reached settlements with US authorities over similar allegations concerning their conduct in China.

While GSK says it has found no evidence of bribery in its Chinese business, a thorough investigation should establish whether the company has done anything wrong. Clearly, there is no excuse for suborning local officials and doctors. But the allegations also point to a deeper malaise in China’s healthcare system.

As China grows richer, its people are coming to expect better healthcare. Yet the government does not pay hospitals enough to cover the cost of treating patients, leaving a shortfall that must be made up elsewhere. Patients who cannot afford to pay often struggle to get treatment. Even the luckier ones sometimes endure unnecessary procedures, peddled by hospitals seeking extra fees. Drugs, to which healthcare providers add a 15 per cent mark-up as a source of income, are liberally prescribed.