Dumex replaces management amid China bribery claims Dumex, the baby-food brand owned by France's Danone, said it would appoint new management at the unit following allegations that it bribed doctors and nurses at Chinese hospitals to push parents of newborn babies to buy its infant-milk formula. Expressing "deep regret," the company said it accepted "full accountability" for management lapses aired in a Chinese state television report last month. By the numbers: Danone Yoghurt market share The CCTV report made Danone the latest foreign company to be targeted in Beijing's intensifying anti-bribery probes, which have focused on pharmaceutical companies, including the UK's GlaxoSmithKline. At the time of the allegations, Dumex said it was "extremely shocked," and promised to launch an internal investigation. In an emailed statement, the company concluded that the allegations were linked to a Dumex-sponsored programme for mother-and-care education in China, which "was not properly managed in some cases." It said it had suspended the programme in all regions and that the management "accepted full accountability for these lapses." It added it would take disciplinary action according to company policy and it would introduce mandatory training in marketing responsibility for all employees. The company said it would appoint "new management personnel to deal with relevant issues." It added it had no further comment. The statement, which the company said it had released to CCTV on Saturday, came on the same day that Chinese officials in the northern city of Tianjin said they had punished 13 medical workers for taking bribes from Danone's Chinese unit. Local government investigators said the workers were among 116 people from 85 hospitals and health groups who took bribes from the company to give talks to parents of newborns, recommend Dumex formula and give out product samples, news agencies reported a government statement as saying. International companies selling baby nutrition in the Chinese market have seen sales increase sharply since a scandal broke in 2008 involving the use of melamine by local producers, damaging consumer confidence in domestic manufacturers. Worldwide sales at Danone's baby-nutrition division have grown more than 50 per cent since 2007 and now account for more than 20 per cent of total revenues. Of that, the Asia-Pacific region is the most important, accounting for about 40 per cent of its business. Danone says China is the largest market within the Asia-Pacific region, and helped to produce sales growth of 13.5 per cent in Danone's baby-nutrition division between April and the end of June this year. However, it emerged in August that Danone's Dumex was one of six internationally owned manufacturers facing Rmb669m ($109m) in fines from the Chinese government for engaging in allegedly anti-competitive pricing practices.