China detains executive at foreign-owned firm for alleged bribery

BEIJING (AFP): China has detained a senior executive at a foreign-owned media agency for suspected bribery, the firm’s parent company WPP has said.

Beijing has intensified its scrutiny of foreign enterprises in certain sectors this year, conducting raids on a string of big-name consulting, research and due diligence firms.

The Financial Times reported on Friday that police had raided the Shanghai offices of GroupM — a media agency owned by British advertising giant WPP — and detained a senior executive.

WPP said on Monday that a GroupM executive was being held “on charges of bribery”, adding that it was “cooperating with the authorities and conducting our own investigation with an independent third party”.

“We are terminating the executive’s employment with the company, and GroupM is suspending trade with any external organisation we understand to be part of the police enquiries,” a WPP spokesperson told AFP in a statement.

“We are absolutely committed to behaving in accordance with the law and our own code of conduct, and will take all necessary action to ensure this is the case within our business,” the company said.

It added that it would not comment on the details of the case as an investigation was ongoing.

On Saturday, the Shanghai police force’s economic investigations department said it had “cracked a commercial bribery case” and arrested three suspects, including a “senior advertising executive”. They did not name the company involved in the investigation.

The suspects are alleged to have “taken advantage of their company positions between 2019 and February 2023 to accept huge sums in bribes”, and are currently in criminal detention, according to the statement.

“The case is currently under further investigation,” it said.

Under President Xi Jinping, Chinese authorities have launched corruption crackdowns in a range of sectors, from elite politics to the country’s technology giants.

In May, China said it had raided the offices of US consultancy firm Capvision in order to safeguard its “national security and development interests”.

Beijing also questioned staff at the Shanghai branch of another American consultancy, Bain, in April.

And authorities detained workers and shuttered an office belonging to US-based due diligence firm Mintz Group in March.

The US government and its chambers of commerce have warned that the raids damage investor confidence and the operations of foreign businesses in China.

When asked about the GroupM raid at a press briefing on Monday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware” of the situation.