China Releases Mintz Employees Amid Push to Lure Foreign Cash

In a sign of China’s concern about its lacklustre economy, authorities have released all employees of a US corporate due diligence company detained in Beijing two years ago.

The move appears to be a bid to reassure foreign investors and companies operating in China amid sliding foreign investment in the world’s second largest economy.

The detained Beijing employees at Mintz Group, all Chinese nationals, have been freed, a company spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday (March 25).

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News of their release came on the heels of the China Development Forum in Beijing, which drew dozens of foreign CEOs and was a platform that Chinese officials used to bring home the message that China is keen to attract further foreign capital.

Chinese authorities had detained the five local staff in a raid that turned out to be the beginning of a sweeping crackdown on consultancy and due diligence firms including Bain & Company’s office in Shanghai, as well as Capvision Partners.

Security trumps development

The employees of Mintz, which specialises in background checking, fact gathering and internal investigations, were detained in March 2023 just before the same high-profile economic forum, casting a chill on foreign sentiment towards China.

Critics said China’s obsession with security under President Xi was undermining its economic goals.

A report by Reuters in May 2023 cited sources who said Mintz had engaged in corporate due diligence work examining the possible use of forced labour in supply chains linked to China’s Xinjiang region.

China has said it welcomes foreign trade and investment but stressed that national security precedes development.

“We are grateful to the Chinese authorities that our former colleagues can now be home with their families,” the Mintz spokesman said in an email.

Mintz has 12 offices around the world and more than 280 investigators, according to its website.

Foreign investment down 27%

Ahead of this year’s China Development Forum, Chinese officials had mounted a charm offensive, stepping up meetings with top foreign executives to reassure them of the attractiveness of the Chinese market.

Foreign direct investment in China plummeted 27% in local currency terms in 2024 compared with a year earlier, according to official data, the most since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The outreach also came as tit-for-tat tariffs with the US escalated, showing Beijing’s eagerness to consolidate ties with global business leaders to fend off disruptions sparked by US President Donald Trump, who is expected to heap more penalties on Chinese goods as soon as next week.