Some foreign executives are now afraid to travel to China. Their main fear was that they might be barred from leaving the country.
The Chinese government's harsh treatment of foreign companies this year and its imposition of exit bans on some bankers and executives have heightened concerns about travel to the mainland. Some companies are cancelling or postponing trips. Other companies have maintained normal travel schedules but added new safeguards, including telling employees they can travel to China in groups, but not alone.
"People are very cautious about traveling to China," said Tammy Krings, CEO of ATG Travel Worldwide. "I would recommend only taking travel that is critical to the job." The company works with large employers around the world.
Ms. Krings said she has seen a roughly 25% increase in cancellations or postponements of U.S. business trips to China in recent weeks. A survey linked to the US government found that nearly a fifth of respondents were cutting back on business travel to China; The report was released in September and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The reluctance of foreign executives to travel to the mainland risks adding to a strained Sino-US relationship already frayed by tensions over Taiwan, a battle for supremacy in the artificial intelligence chip circuit and a protracted trade war. Foreign companies have recently adopted a strategy of "siloing" their China exposure, or isolating their activities in China from their global operations.
  
The Chinese government uses exit restrictions to help it conduct criminal investigations, pressure dissidents or gain leverage in disputes with foreign companies and governments, according to Western officials and human rights groups. Such exit bans can last for years and are sometimes used against people who are not suspected of a crime. Neither the D 'Anwar executive nor the Nomura banker is a direct target of the Chinese authorities' investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Dale Buckner, chief executive of the Global Guardian, a private US security firm, said that in the past eight months several of his clients - including people who work for law firms, manufacturers, consultancies and other companies - had been detained or "soft interrogated" in Chinese airports or hotels. The time is usually between two and five hours.
"You see it in the movies," Buckner said. It feels very Hollywood, but it's disturbing."
Buckner said some U.S. companies have hired security consultants to conduct background checks on employees to determine if there are certain circumstances that would put them at a higher risk of being detained by Chinese authorities. These include military experience, dual citizenship or politically sensitive social media posts, he said.
China's Foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment and the Ministry of Public Security could not be reached for comment during the week-long National Day holiday. Chinese officials have previously said they will do more to improve the country's business environment and attract foreign investment. In August, China relaxed visa rules for business travel.
China's use of the exit ban has added to tensions among foreign companies that grew earlier this year when the Chinese government raided the offices of Mintz Group, a due diligence firm, and Capvision, a consulting firm with a network of experts. And to the consulting firm Bain & Co. employees were questioned. Optimism among US companies about the prospects of doing business in China is now at its lowest level in decades
This week, the company said it had completed "rectification" under the guidance of government authorities. The company promised to stick to the safety bottom line of the development of the national consulting industry.
Not everyone has shied away from China. Including Apple Inc. 's Tim Cook, JPMorgan Chase & Co. 's Jamie Dimon, Tesla Inc.' s Elon Musk, and a number of company chief executives have made high-profile visits to China this year. China also hosts a number of business conferences, including the Summer Davos, run by the World Economic Forum.
Christoph Carnier, head of global Travel management at Merck KGaA (MRK.XE), a pharmaceutical company based in Darmstadt, Germany, and chairman of the German Business Travel Association, says, There has been no change in Merck's travel policy to China. Employees can still travel to China for meetings that are "critical to the business," he said.
"Especially now, face-to-face meetings are more important than ever, especially with China," he said. But security experts and business consultants say travellers to China should think carefully about what kind of work they will be doing while in the country. Recommended things to avoid: For example, research that supports the decoupling of foreign economies from China, or research that criticizes local businesses. Experts also recommend not bringing your daily mobile phone or computer, but only "burner" devices, that is, smartphones or laptops that have erased data or apps.
The survey, released in September, found that the decline in business travel to China was partly due to the expansion of the espionage law. This expansion strengthens State control over data and digital activities. About a third of respondents said they have changed their security policies toward China, mainly by trying to reduce data risks and figuring out how likely travelers are to come to the attention of Chinese authorities.