For weeks, little was known about why prominent international consulting firms in China were being raided by the police. Employees had been questioned and even detained for doing what has long been the nuts and bolts of the job: compiling information about Chinese markets, companies and policies for foreign clients working in the world’s second-largest economy.Now, the motivation behind the raids, which included American firms such as the Mintz Group and Bain & Company and most recently Capvision Partners, a consulting company with headquarters in New York and Shanghai, is beginning to come to light after state media on Monday revealed a multiagency crackdown on the consulting industry in the name of national security.Beijing has also moved to limit the availability of financial data to foreign customers and expanded an already sweeping c …
