Generally, the company will have a limit (somewhere in the $25-$50 range) on gifts you could give or receive without prior authorization. So maybe I can take you to a bar or coffee shop and get you a drink or two while we talk. But not a dinner at a high end restaurant, or a sporting event or a vacation in Hawaii, because the risk of being corrupted (on the receiving end) or reputational risk from being seen as corrupt, was too great.
This is particularly potent issue for American companies because of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The FCPA means that US companies (and their subsidiaries, contractors, etc.) have to draw these sorts of lines over the entire world, or be subject to heavy penalties, even in countries where it might be more common and legal.