China fines Mintz for 'unapproved' work, after raiding its Beijing office

China fined US firm Mintz Group about $1.5 million for doing "unapproved statistical work", said a Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics notice, after a raid of its Beijing office sparked worries about China's openness to foreign investment.

Report informs via Reuters that the Beijing's Bureau of Statistics said in a ruling dated July 5, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that the firm had carried out "foreign-related statistical investigations" without seeking and obtaining approvals.

In a further notice on its website dated July 14, the bureau said Mintz conducted 37 such investigations from March 2019 to July 2022.

As punishment, the bureau confiscated 5.34 million yuan of the firm's "illegal proceeds" and imposed an administrative penalty of an equivalent amount, resulting in a total fine of about $1.5 million.

Mintz has 60 days to file an appeal and six months to file an administrative suit. It did not respond to a request for comment.