China imposes "exit ban" on Wells Fargo executive, reports say

Zoom in: Chenyue Mao, a Shanghai-born managing director in Wells Fargo's credit solutions division, was "blocked from leaving China after traveling there recently," WSJ first reported.

• The so-called "exit ban" prompted Wells Fargo to bar employees from heading to China until further notice, Reuters and FT reported.
• "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," Wells Fargo said Friday in a statement.

The big picture: "The case underscores multinational companies' fears about the risks of operating in China, especially in regard to staff safety and restrictions on movement," Bloomberg reported.

• "It could also further discourage corporate travel to the country and ratchet up tension between the world's two largest economies as they seek to hammer out a trade deal."

Between the lines: "The vast majority of exit bans aren't imposed on people accused of crimes," WSJ reported. "Most bans have been slapped on people involved in civil litigations such as business disputes."

• They can last months or years as investigations unfold.
• A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman told WSJ he wasn't aware of the situation: "For anyone in China, whether Chinese or foreign, they need to abide by Chinese law."

The bottom line: "Growing use of travel restrictions has led the US state department to advise travellers to exercise heightened caution when visiting China, warning about the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including exit bans," FT reports.