China imposes exit bans on two US citizens

China is getting the banned back together.

Over the past week, reports have emerged of US citizens being barred from leaving China.

Some context: China occasionally imposes exit bans to prevent individuals involved in pending civil or criminal proceedings from leaving the country.

Case one: On Thursday, Wells Fargo suspended all employee travel to China after one of its bankers – a Chinese-born American citizen – was subjected to an exit ban (Reuters 1).

• On Monday, China’s foreign ministry (MoFA) stated that the banker is under investigation for her involvement in a criminal case (WSJ).

Case two: On Sunday, the SCMP reported that an employee of the US Patent and Trademark Office – also a Chinese-born American citizen – had been prevented from leaving China since April.

• The ban is reportedly related to the employee's failure to disclose his US government employment on his visa application.
• The US State Department said that it was working to “resolve the situation as soon as possible.”

Get smart: China’s perennially secretive handling of exit bans massively undermines efforts to improve foreign business sentiment.

• While most visitors will never encounter an exit ban, the lack of transparency casts a long shadow – discouraging business travel and raising perceived risk.

Get smarter: Given that Washington has been aware of at least one of these cases for months, they’re unlikely to have much impact on ongoing US-China trade talks.