The number of foreign nationals subject to exit bans or detention in China for business-related reasons has increased significantly in the past two years, with executives from Japan, the UK, France, and the United States among those affected. The cases are characterized by opaque legal proceedings, difficulty in accessing consular assistance, and resolution terms that often require the companies employing the detained executives to make specific commercial concessions.
Major corporate law firms are advising clients with China operations to review which staff have access to commercially or politically sensitive information and to limit travel to China by executives in those roles. Several multinational companies have restructured their China leadership to place locally hired Chinese nationals in roles that previously required foreign executive involvement, reducing the leverage that detention of foreign employees can provide.
