China has fined the American company Mintz Group, which specializes in corporate legal expertise.

The Chinese authorities explained their decision to introduce a measure of influence by the fact that a firm from the United States was allegedly involved in the practice of conducting unauthorized statistical work in the country. The media call this fine a reflection of the tough Chinese policy, which has signs of a repressive approach to regulation, against consulting companies under the pretext of ensuring national security.

In March, the Chinese authorities closed the firm’s office in Beijing. Also in the spring, five employees of the company were detained. A report appeared on the website of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics in July that the local Mintz office violated two rules when conducting statistical investigations related to foreigners. The Company has not sent a request to the authorities to carry out the mentioned activities and has not received permission to conduct these investigations.

Unauthorized actions of the firm were recorded in the period from March 2019 to July last year. The relevant information was made public by the Chinese authorities.

The company was fined 10.69 million yuan ($1.49 million). The Chinese authorities also ordered the firm to complete the practice of conducting investigations in the country.

Mintz, after the March search of the Beijing office and its subsequent closure, told the media that she had not received an official legal notice of the initiation of proceedings against the firm. At the same time, the company appealed to the authorities with a request to release the detained employees.

A few days after the searches in the Beijing office of the firm, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said that Mintz was suspected of involvement in business transactions that violate the current legislation of the country. This statement, in a certain sense, was the beginning of a large-scale campaign, according to the media, to expand the scale of repression against consulting companies operating in the Chinese market.

In April, the police interrogated employees of the Shanghai office of the global consulting giant Bain & Company. A few weeks later, the state security forces visited the offices of Capvision, an international expert network firm with headquarters in Shanghai and New York.

As we have reported earlier, China Aims to Expand Government Control To Metaverse.