Business Travel to China Takes Another Hit

In the latest blow to U.S. / China business relations, a Chinese-American banker has been blocked from leaving China after visiting the country on business. Chenyue Mao of Wells Fargo was born in China but is an American citizen. No reason has been given for the denial of Mao’s exit visa and Wells Fargo has since suspended all travel for employees to China.

This news comes as business travel to China continues to decline. Bloomberg reports that compared to 2019, the number of business travelers to China in 2024 was down 48%. There are numerous reasons for this trend. On the one hand, while Covid-19 is largely behind us, pandemic-era restrictions linger. Specifically, there are far fewer international flights into China. Additionally, the acceptance of remote work has contributed to the trend of reduced business travel overall. But geopolitical tensions remain the primary driver of the overall decline. 

In the United States, the first Trump administration saw the beginning of a trade war that was continued under Biden administration and is currently being exacerbated by the second Trump administration’s tariff regime. In China, the government of President Xi has become increasingly insular. The implementation of the now infamous anti-espionage law , that law makes the work of basic due diligence seemingly illegal and eliminates standard components of market research and risk management, has sent a chill through the business community. 

Corporations and investors have long used expert-network consulting firms to benchmark and evaluate companies they are considering as partners or as targets for acquisitions. The anti-espionage law complicates this standard practice. Many businesses have decided that the reputational and brand risk of doing business with someone they can not sufficiently evaluate is not worth the opportunity they are considering. 

Additionally, seemingly arbitrary detentions such as Mao’s increase the perceived – and very real – risk of doing business in China. These types of cases have historically dragged on for years. Canadian executives Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, for example,  were detained for nearly three years on spurious charges seemingly in response to the U.S. prosecution of a Huawei Technologies executive. 

For years, Interfor has counseled its clients to use caution in a variety of areas when traveling to and within China. Our guidance has largely focused on the threat of corporate espionage, which the Chinese government aggressively pursues. Executives are urged not to take their phones and computers to China and to use totally different devices with only the most basic functionality for the duration of their travel. Otherwise, they risk having their corporate secrets compromised by China’s intelligence apparatus. Executives are even urged to exercise caution when speaking about business matters in case national intelligence services are eavesdropping. 

While it is difficult to evaluate individual risk when it comes to travel to China, corporations and their security officers should familiarize themselves with China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), which maintains an “Unreliable Entity List.” China uses this list to target foreign nationals that it contends would harm China’s national sovereignty or security, or harm the interests of Chinese businesses. This list has focused on companies in the aerospace or defense sector, and in particular any company that has been linked in these areas to Taiwan. 

Considering both how low the threshold for detention seems to be, and how opaque the process is to free those detained, Interfor continues to evaluate that travel to China warrants severe caution.