China examines Capvision in nation safety alert to consulting companies

May 10, 2023: On Monday, Chinese authorities investigated consulting firm Capvision Partners, state media CCTV reported, in a warning to other advisory firms as the country tightens its national security laws.

Capvision, which runs the country’s most prominent expert network group and has offices in eight cities worldwide, including Shanghai and New York, was singled out in a series of news reports, including a 15-minute segment by state broadcaster CCTV.

CCTV said that investigations by Chinese national security authorities had found that overseas institutions have used domestic consulting firms to steal state secrets and intelligence on areas key to China.

“According to the findings. Capvision accepted a large number of consulting projects from overseas companies on industries sensitive to China, and some of these firms had close ties with foreign governments, military and intelligence agencies,” CCTV said during its show, which interviewed staff and consultants hired by Capvision and showed police visiting one of the company’s mainland offices.

Capvision said in a statement posted to its WeChat account shortly after the CCTV broadcast that it would firmly abide by China’s national security rules and take the lead in ensuring the consulting industry was compliant.

Calls by Reuters to its offices in Suzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong went unanswered after business hours.

CCTV did not say whether authorities levelled any punishment against Capvision but that the national security agency had dealt with the company “by regulations.”