China police question staff at US consultancy giant Bain

US consultancy giant Bain & Company has confirmed that Chinese police have visited its office in Shanghai and questioned some staff.

"We are cooperating as appropriate with the Chinese authorities," a spokesperson for the firm told the BBC.

It comes as relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated in recent months.

"We can confirm that the Chinese authorities have questioned staff in our Shanghai office," Bain said.

"At this time, we have no further comment," it added.

The company's statement came after a media report that police made an unannounced visit to Bain's office in the Chinese financial hub two week ago.

Officers took away computers and phones, according to the Financial Times, which cited people briefed on the matter.

According to the company's website, Bain's Shanghai office was opened in the city's central business district in 2004. It also has offices in Beijing and Hong Kong.

The global firm, which has its headquarters in Boston, provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organisations.

As tensions have grown in recent months between the world's two largest economies, US businesses have become increasingly pessimistic about their prospects in China.

This month, a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China of companies operating in the country found that 87% of them felt "US-China relations remain the most challenging issue".

Tensions have been heightened since former President Donald Trump triggered a trade war between the US and China in 2018.

In February, relations between the two countries were further frayed after the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon, which Beijing insisted was a weather monitoring device.

Last month, TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew was grilled by US lawmakers for almost five hours about the app's data security and privacy practices, and its alleged ties to Beijing.