A growing number of Chinese laws that enable “exit bans” has heightened fears of a more hostile environment for foreign companies operating in China.
Experts say that Beijing’s tactics go against its professed desire to bolster business confidence and foreign investment in the country and may trigger an accelerated exodus of foreign companies.
The Chinese regime has long banned dissidents from leaving the country, but in the years since Xi Jinping came to power (2012), the authorities have passed more laws to allow such bans and have applied them more broadly.
According to a recent report (pdf) by the Spain-based rights group Safeguard Defenders, there are currently 15 such laws in place, five of which have passed in just the last five years….