China said Monday that a US-based Wells Fargo banker has been blocked from leaving the country because she “is involved in a criminal case.”
Chenyue Mao, an Atlanta-based managing director at Wells Fargo who was born in Shanghai, has been blocked from leaving in accordance with the law, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the ministry, said during a news briefing.
The case is currently under investigation and Mao is obliged to cooperate, Guo said, though no details on the case or how Mao is involved were shared.
“Everyone in China, whether they are Chinese or foreigners, must abide by Chinese laws,” Guo added.
Wells Fargo quickly placed a ban on all travel to China, a source close to the matter previously told Reuters.
“We are closely tracking this situation and working through the appropriate channels so our employee can return to the United States as soon as possible,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson previously told The Post.
The US bank declined to comment on whether it has been in touch with Mao and efforts to expedite her return.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Beijing declined to comment on Mao’s case but said it has “raised our concern with Chinese authorities about the impact arbitrary exit bans on US citizens have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted US citizens to return home.”
Mao’s exit ban, along with two other cases of foreigners being restricted from leaving China, have set off alarm bells for foreign businesses with interests in the area.
A Commerce Department employee who traveled to China several months ago to visit family is being blocked from exiting the country after he failed to disclose on his visa application that he worked for the US government, sources familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.
Guo said he had no information to provide when asked about a US government employee, whose name is currently unknown, facing an exit ban.
Meanwhile, a Beijing court on Wednesday sentenced a Japanese executive to more than three years in prison for espionage, according to the Japanese government.
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The executive was detained in 2023.
Exit bans have become increasingly common in China, where they are used as intimidation tactics or to create leverage over another company or foreign government.
Mao, the Wells Fargo banker facing an exit ban, was raised in China and is now a US citizen, sources familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity told the New York Times.
Her case has stoked anxiety among naturalized American citizens who grew up in China, since the Chinese government has sometimes treated Americans who were born in China as Chinese citizens, these sources said.
Mao has worked at Wells Fargo since 2012 and specializes in international factoring, a process that allows companies to sell unpaid invoices to a third party, known in this case as the factor, for immediate cash.
Mao worked with Chinese firms and industry groups on international factoring matters, and sometimes traveled to China on business, according to the Wall Street Journal.
She was recently named chairwoman of FCI, formerly called Factors Chain International, and posted about the new role on LinkedIn just a few weeks ago.
Eric Zheng, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, on Sunday called for the release of more details in Mao’s case in order to reassure the foreign business community.
Many Japanese companies have already been limiting travel to China and withdrawing family members of managers stationed in the country.
Other international companies have canceled business trips or released new policies discouraging employees from entering China alone.
