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Police raids 'wake-up call' for China-based consultancies: Capvision
Police raids 'wake-up call' for China-based consultancies: Capvision
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) May 10, 2023

International consultancy Capvision, whose offices were raided by Chinese authorities this week, said Wednesday the situation was "a wake-up call" for business consultancies in the country.

Beijing has recently taken action against several US firms in the sector, detaining local staff from due diligence company Mintz Group and questioning employees at consultancy giant Bain & Company.

On Monday state media reported police raids at Capvision's offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Suzhou, with China's foreign ministry confirming the next day that they were linked to national security.

Capvision on Wednesday night said it was "deeply aware that in past business activities, it failed to adequately fulfill its responsibility to protect national security".

In its statement, released only in Chinese, it added "there were major hidden dangers and loopholes, which caused serious harm to national security".

"It's not only a painful lesson for our company, but also a wake-up call for the standardised development of the business consulting industry," the statement continued.

Capvision, which is headquartered in Shanghai and New York, has more than 700 employees, according to its website.

State media reported the probe was based on findings by Chinese authorities that the domestic operations of foreign consulting firms had been used by overseas institutions to obtain state secrets and other sensitive information.

On Wednesday Capvision said it would set up a compliance management committee to "actively implement relevant rectification requirements of national security agencies".

"Our company is fully aware of the profound intentions of national security agencies to learn from past errors to avoid future mistakes, and fully understands the protection and support of national security agencies for our normal business activities," it said.

Recent events, together with an amendment to China's anti-espionage law that makes it more broadly applicable, have spread unease among due diligence and consulting firms operating in China.

In March, Mintz Group's Beijing office was closed and five local staff members detained, according to the firm.

In late April, Bain & Company said Chinese authorities had questioned staff at its Shanghai office, but did not specify why.

On Tuesday the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said it was "concerned" by the reports of the investigations and called on authorities to "more clearly delineate the areas in which companies can or cannot conduct... due diligence".

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