Wells Fargo suspends China travel after employee exit ban, source says

Manya Saini and Nupur Anand

Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 9:27 PM 3 min read

By Manya Saini and Nupur Anand

(Reuters) -Wells Fargo has suspended each question to China aft a banker was blocked from leaving the country, a idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance told Reuters connected Thursday.

The U.S. banking giant's Chenyue Mao was subjected to an exit prohibition aft she entered China successful caller weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing radical acquainted with the matter.

"We are intimately tracking this concern and moving done the due channels truthful our worker tin instrumentality to the United States arsenic soon arsenic possible," Wells Fargo said successful a connection emailed to Reuters.

The prohibition could worsen concerns among multinational companies astir the risks of doing concern successful China, peculiarly astir worker information and state of movement. The incidental could besides chill firm question to the state and complicate relations betwixt the world's 2 biggest economies.

Broader U.S.-China relations stay tense, shaped by deepening strategic, economic, and geopolitical rivalries.

Mao was calved successful Shanghai and is based successful Atlanta, according to a June 2025 merchandise from FCI, wherever she serves arsenic chairwoman. FCI, formerly named Factors Chain International, is simply a planetary web of companies that bash concern successful the factoring and financing of commercialized receivables.

Before her predetermination arsenic FCI seat successful June, Mao served arsenic vice seat of the body. The manufacture assemblage did not instantly respond to a Reuters petition for remark connected the matter.

DECADE-LONG TENURE

Mao is simply a U.S. citizen, the root said.

She has been a banker astatine Wells Fargo for implicit a decade, according to her LinkedIn profile. She presently serves arsenic a managing manager astatine the lender and spearheads its planetary factoring business, arsenic good arsenic advising multinational clients connected cross-border working-capital strategies.

Factoring is simply a financing method wherever companies merchantability their receivables to 3rd parties, specified arsenic banks, successful speech for contiguous cash. The 3rd party, known arsenic the factor, profits by purchasing the receivables astatine a discount and collecting the afloat magnitude later.

The Wall Street Journal reported that it could not beryllium determined precisely erstwhile Mao entered China, oregon what prompted the question restriction.

She has worked and interacted with Chinese companies and manufacture groups connected commercialized financing and planetary factoring matters, the Journal reported, adding that she besides sometimes traveled to China for business.

Beijing has progressively utilized exit bans connected some Chinese and overseas nationals, often successful transportation with civilian disputes, regulatory investigations oregon transgression probes.