BlackRock bans use of company devices in China

BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset management firm, informed employees that effective July 16, they will no longer be permitted to carry company-issued laptops, iPhones, or iPads when traveling to China.

According to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg, employees are now required to use temporary loaner phones for business trips to the Asian country. They are also barred from accessing BlackRock’s corporate network through VPN or any other means within the country’s borders. 

The firm reiterated that these restrictions extend to personal travel too, meaning no employee, under any circumstance, may log into BlackRock systems from China.

BlackRock’s staff notice comes against the backdrop of reports that China is stealing metadata from devices, alongside the scrutiny foreign nationals are facing for traveling to the country.

BlackRock cites security issues in policy change

Sources closer to the asset management institutions say BlackRock is responding to several “national security” questions, including news about Chinese authorities seizing and searching foreign electronic devices without a warrant. 

As reported by Cryptopolitan on Monday, an intelligence report found that officials can almost immediately review personal or corporate data in real-time from smartphones and computers brought into China.

Just last week, Wells Fargo & Co. issued a stop notice to all employees traveling to China. One of its senior bankers, Chenyue Mao, was blocked from leaving the country, which Beijing termed a “criminal matter.” 

China’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed that Mao’s travel restriction was related to an ongoing investigation.

BlackRock owns a wholly operated mutual fund entity and manages a wealth management joint venture with China Construction Bank Corp. The travel restrictions complicate internal operations, especially for employees mandated to oversee Chinese assets and partnerships.

The Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) has noted that information segregation is now a standard practice for companies with exposure to the Chinese market. Still, the group admits that doing so has made internal oversight obscure and costly.

US distrust Chinese tech and AI firms

The US and China have had problems in trade policies and technology for years, but as of the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, US lawmakers are asking more questions about China’s social media reach and AI capabilities.

The Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is reportedly working with China’s military and intelligence agencies. According to a senior US State Department official, DeepSeek has provided technical support to China’s defense sector and attempted to bypass US export restrictions by using shell companies based in Southeast Asia. 

“We understand that DeepSeek has willingly provided and will likely continue to provide support to China’s military and intelligence operations,” said the senior State Department official. “This effort goes above and beyond open-source access to DeepSeek’s AI models.”

The company has also supposedly tried remotely accessing US-manufactured chips by establishing overseas data center connections. 

Moreover, the fate of TikTok in the US is still in limbo. In June, President Donald Trump signed a third executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok, pushing the cutoff date to September 17. 

Trump had supported a plan to sell TikTok’s US operations to a consortium led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, two existing investors in ByteDance. 

The proposed deal would have handed over 80% of TikTok’s US business to American investors while ByteDance retained a minority stake. Other members of the proposed group included Blackstone, KKR, Andreessen Horowitz, and Oracle, with plans to form a new subsidiary, “TikTok US,” that would meet American regulatory expectations.

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