In the latest official examination of a prominent US company in China, authorities visited the Shanghai offices of US management consultancy Bain & Company this month to question its employees.
In a written statement, Bain said it was "cooperating appropriately with the Chinese authorities," but declined to comment on the nature of the investigation and whether employees' phones and computers were seized during the visit.Bain's questioning came less than a month after authorities arrested five Chinese nationals working in Beijing for the Mintz Group, a US consulting firm with 18 offices around the world, and closed the branch. The five Chinese nationals were held overnight before their families were notified of their arrest. China's foreign ministry later said the company was suspected of engaging in illegal business operations.Mintz had no immediate response Thursday to a request for comment on whether any of its five employees had been released.Companies that buy or invest in a plant or other company usually hire a company like Mintz to do what's known as a due diligence review, checking to make sure there are no hidden problems with the target company. By contrast, Bain offers advice to companies: companies share details of their sales, operations, and long-term plans with Bain to get an independent perspective on how they can improve.The raid on Bain's Shanghai operations is the latest sign of strained economic relations between the US and China. Beijing is particularly upset about restrictions imposed by the Biden administration that prevent the sale of semiconductor industry equipment to China. Without crucial chip-making tools, China's semiconductor industry, already considered technologically backward, will struggle to bridge the gap between leading firms and access to cutting-edge technologies used in everything from military equipment to consumer electronics.“If the U.S. continues to go its own way, China will resolutely counter it to the end,” the ministry said.