China frees staff of U.S. firm Mintz in move to soothe foreign sentiment

BEIJING — Chinese authorities have released all employees of a U.S. corporate due diligence firm detained in Beijing two years ago in an apparent move to reassure foreign firms operating in China amid sliding foreign investment in the world’s No. 2 economy.

The detained Beijing employees at Mintz Group, all Chinese nationals, have been freed, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.

News of their release came on the heels of the just-concluded China Development Forum in Beijing attended by dozens of foreign CEOs, a platform that Chinese officials had used to bring home the message that China is open to foreign capital.

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

The employees of Mintz, which specializes 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 toward China.

Reuters reported in May 2023, citing sources, that Mintz had engaged in corporate due diligence work examining the possible use of forced labor 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 spokesperson said in an email.

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

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 27.1% 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 United States escalated, showing Beijing’s eagerness to consolidate ties with global business leaders to fend off disruptions set off by President Donald Trump, who is expected to heap more penalties on Chinese goods as soon as next month.