It takes only an $11,000 debt to end up trapped in China

Foreign executives often don’t know about an exit ban until they try to travel. (Image: Depositphotos)

Sat, 06 Apr 2024

By Rebecca FengAn American executive who lives in China went to Shanghai Pudong airport six years ago for a routine business trip to San Francisco. When he tried to cross the border, he was told he wasn’t permitted to leave China.“You know what you did,” the border officer told him. He tried another airport and got a similar response. The executive has been stuck in China ever since. He was the target of an exit ban, a legal tool used by Chinese courts that has left numerous foreign executives trapped inside the coun...

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