US-based Wells Fargo banker blocked from leaving China after arriving for work trip: report

New York Post

3 days ago

A Wells Fargo banker traveling on business has been blocked from leaving China after recently arriving there for a work trip, according to a report.
Chenyue Mao, an Atlanta-based managing director at Wells Fargo, is facing an exit ban after entering China in recent weeks, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
Mao, who was born in Shanghai, was traveling there internationally on business, according to her automated email response.
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3 Chenyue Mao is a managing director at Wells Fargo.
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Wells Fargo quickly suspended all travel to China following news of the exit ban, sources told the Journal.
It could not immediately be determined when Mao was detained or why she is facing an exit ban.
'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 told The Post in a statement.
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Mao recently attended an industry conference in Brazil late last month, according to a news release.
The longtime Wells Fargo employee – who started with the company in 2012 – 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 companies and industry groups on international factoring matters, and sometimes traveled to China on business, according to the Journal.
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She was recently named chairwoman of FCI, formerly called Factors Chain International, at the group's annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro in June.
3 Mao is facing an exit ban after entering China in recent weeks, according to a report.
Facebook/Chenyue Mao
Mao posted about the new role on LinkedIn just two weeks ago and thanked colleagues for their messages of congratulations.
FCI and the Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment.
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These exit bans have become increasingly common in China, where people are often blocked from leaving for civil disputes, not crimes.
Beijing has invoked travel bans to use as intimidation tactics or even to create leverage over another company or foreign government. Wells Fargo, however, does not have a notable presence in China.
3 Wells Fargo has suspended all travel to China, a source told the Wall Street Journal.
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The brutal bans can last for months or even years, and people are often unaware they're facing such a ban until they try to leave.
In late 2023, Charles Wang Zhonhe, an executive at Japanese-based financial services firm Nomura, was banned from leaving mainland China after a business trip. He has since returned to Hong Kong.
Michael Chan, a Kroll executive who holds a Hong Kong passport, was also unable to exit the country from mainland China in 2023.
He was still in China as of May.
The bans have prompted some companies to cancel business trips or create new policies that discourage employees from entering the country alone.