人们越来越担心，共产党越来越重视对市场和公司信息的控制是对公司进行质疑的背后原因。
随着中国的大流行病限制被解除，领导人对高管们的讨好，春天本应是投资者信心重振的时候。然而，政府的安全措施，包括扩大的反间谍法，以及调查人员对几家外国公司中国办事处的暗访，使人们担心在习近平的领导下，经济实用主义可能被国家控制的重点所取代。这让一些公司对其中国业务的安全性产生怀疑。
美国咨询公司，如贝恩公司和明思集团，已经被政府安全官员访问，这引起了外国投资者的担忧，他们对中国市场、竞争对手和潜在交易信息的获取可能受到限制。这是习近平为加强国家安全和保护免受美国和西方影响所做努力的一部分。拜登政府对向中国销售先进半导体和芯片制造设备的限制，只是增加了他的信念。
外国公司在中国的环境已变得越来越困难。北京下令对美国芯片制造商美光科技进行网络安全审查，一名日本制药业高管因涉嫌间谍罪被拘留。中国还加强了对出境禁令的使用，阻止人们离开中国，使企业高管更难开展工作。
中国政府最近打击了明思和贝恩等外国公司，这些公司是全球商业机器中的齿轮。人们认为，这些新的打击行动是由于安全漏洞，中国政府正试图保护国家安全和利益。习主席还推动了一项 "全面 "的国家安全计划，并为海外数据传输制定了新的规则。
去年，中国网络空间管理局对转移到国外的数据出台了新的规则，要求由该机构评估其 "敏感程度 "和对 "国家安全 "可能存在的风险。因此，向外国大学和其他海外用户分发中国研究论文、学位论文和统计数据的公司CNKI，已经严格限制了对它们的访问。
自10月的共产党大会以来，习主席提升了一批安全官员，他们似乎渴望继续推动更严格的控制。国家安全部部长陈一心在上个月为党的主要意识形态杂志撰写的一篇文章中说，国家安全的范围正在不断扩大。
中国立法者上个月批准了对《反间谍法》的修改，扩大了构成间谍活动的定义，包括提供与国家安全和利益有关的文件、数据、材料或物品。美国驻华大使批评该法，称其有可能使与尽职调查有关的平凡活动成为潜在的非法行为。
欧洲公司没有引起中国安全机构的同样关注，因为欧洲对中国采取了比拜登政府更宽容的立场。然而，欧洲公司表示，需要澄清哪些是敏感信息，哪些不是。
美国公司已经开始寻找离开中国的方法，以应对中国共产党最近的审查。在中国与外国公司合作的西雅图律师丹-哈里斯说，正在发出的信息是，中共不关心经济，而是让人们保持一致，惩罚那些不遵守规定的人。
With China’s pandemic restrictions lifted and leaders courting executives, spring was supposed to be a time of renewed investor confidence. However, government security measures, including expanded counterespionage laws, and unannounced visits by investigators to the Chinese offices of several foreign firms have caused worry that under Xi Jinping, economic pragmatism could be replaced with a focus on state control. This has left some companies questioning the safety of their China operations.
American consulting firms, such as Bain & Company and the Mintz Group, have been visited by government security officers, raising fears among foreign investors that their access to information about markets, competitors, and potential deals in China could be restricted. This is part of Xi Jinping’s effort to strengthen national security and protect against US and Western influence. The Biden administration’s restrictions on sales of advanced semiconductors and chip-making equipment to China have only added to his conviction.
The environment for foreign companies in China has become increasingly difficult. Beijing ordered a cybersecurity review of the US chip maker Micron Technology, and a Japanese pharmaceutical executive was detained on suspicion of espionage. China has also intensified its use of exit bans to prevent people from leaving the country, making it harder for business executives to do their jobs.
The Chinese government has recently cracked down on foreign companies such as Mintz and Bain, which are cogs in the global business machinery. It is believed that these new crackdowns are due to security vulnerabilities and that Beijing is attempting to protect national security and interests. President Xi has also pushed for a “comprehensive” national security program and new rules for data transfer abroad.
Last year, the Cyberspace Administration of China introduced new rules for data that is transferred abroad, requiring that it be assessed by the agency for its “degree of sensitivity” and possible risks to “national security.” As a result, CNKI, a company that distributes Chinese research papers, dissertations and statistics to foreign universities and other users abroad, has severely restricted access to them.
Since the October Communist Party Congress, President Xi has elevated a cohort of security officials who appear eager to continue this drive for tighter controls. Minister for state security, Chen Yixin, wrote in an article for the party’s chief ideological journal last month that the scope of national security is constantly expanding.
Chinese legislators approved changes to the Counterespionage Law last month, which widens the definition of what constitutes espionage to include providing documents, data, materials, or objects related to national security and interests. The US ambassador to China criticized the law, saying it could potentially make mundane activities related to due diligence potentially illegal.
European firms have not attracted the same attention from China’s security establishment, as Europe has taken a more accommodating stance toward China than the Biden administration. However, European companies say there needs to be clarification between what is considered sensitive information and what is not.
American companies have begun to look for ways to leave the country in response to the recent scrutiny from the Chinese Communist Party. Dan Harris, a Seattle-based lawyer working with foreign companies in China, said the message being sent is that the Party does not care about the economy, but rather keeping people in line and punishing those who do not comply.