BlackRock restricts employees from bringing work devices for China travel, asks to use loaner phones

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has asked its employees travelling to China for business trips not to bring company laptops. It also told its staff to use temporary loaner phones and not to bring company laptops, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing an internal memo.The financial giant described the “policy enhancement” on business travel to China in an internal document obtained by Bloomberg, which states that it is effective from July 16. The US firm informed its employees that using company-issued employee gadgets, such as iPhones and iPads, is not permitted, according to the report.
The world’s largest asset manager also mentioned that using the company’s laptops or VPN for remote access is also not permitted. Employees were also informed that they would be unable to access the BlackRock network while on personal travel in China.
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters this was not a new policy. The report comes as businesses see China’s increased control over access during travel to the country.The US State Department on Monday announced that the Chinese government stopped an unnamed US Patent and Trademark Office employee from leaving the nation for several months. “We are tracking this case very closely and are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Last week, Wells Fargo & Co. suspended travel to China after a banker was blocked from leaving the nation. This week, Beijing’s foreign ministry said that the case was related to a criminal matter.