BEIJING (Realist English). Chinese authorities are conducting targeted espionage investigations against foreign consulting companies operating in the country, The Guardian reports after recent searches of the offices of several international firms.
The latest known case saw officers raid multiple offices used by the business consulting firm Capvision in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Shenzhen, Chinese state media reported on Monday. It followed raids on Mintz Group in March, which saw five employees arrested and the branch shut down. US management consulting firm Bain & Company said its Shanghai office was visited by Chinese officers in April, and employees questioned.
On May 8, a report on CCTV alleged Capvision, which was founded in China and has joint headquarters in New York and Shanghai, had paid employees of Chinese state-owned companies to leak secrets. It did not say when the raids took place, but reportedly said a multiagency investigation had seen one employee of a state-owned company jailed for six years for providing state secrets to Capvision’s overseas clients.
