{"text":[[{"start":10.1,"text":"A payments company that aims to rival Stripe and was accused by a tech investor of being a “Chinese backdoor” is relocating some staff out of China as it plots an expansion in the US."}],[{"start":20.95,"text":"Airwallex, which was founded in Australia and has offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, has been steadily moving employees who do not work in China-facing roles out of the country, according to two people familiar with the plan. One person estimated it could total more than 100 staff."}],[{"start":37.95,"text":"The relocations underscore how companies with significant Chinese operations or roots are coming under greater scrutiny as they try to expand globally amid intensifying US-China rivalry."}],[{"start":49.5,"text":"Many Airwallex staff working on international operations, including product managers and engineers, were based in mainland China or Hong Kong."}],[{"start":58.8,"text":"A spokesperson for Airwallex told the FT that data security was the driver of personnel shifts. Relocations began last year in response to Washington restricting the bulk transfer of sensitive personal data to “countries of concern”, explicitly targeting China."}],[{"start":76.35,"text":"“When US Executive Order 14117 established new requirements around cross-border data flows in 2024, employee realignment became part of our growth plan, in line with broader industry practice,” they said."}],[{"start":90.19999999999999,"text":"The spokesperson added that the company continued to maintain a “significant presence in Shanghai and Hong Kong”."}],[{"start":96.19999999999999,"text":"“China remains an important source of world-class engineering and technical talent. Like many global financial institutions, we actively recruit there and support relocation opportunities across our global hubs.”"}],[{"start":108.79999999999998,"text":"Airwallex was founded in Australia in 2015 to provide multi-currency payment services to global businesses. Major clients include McLaren, Qantas, Canva and Shein. "}],[{"start":121.69999999999999,"text":"In 2022, it became the second foreign company to obtain a Chinese payments licence, allowing it to expand in mainland China and handle more of the country’s burgeoning cross-border ecommerce transactions, including from exporters such as Shein."}],[{"start":136.79999999999998,"text":"Late last year, the company announced it would establish dual headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco as it sought to expand to the US to compete against rivals such as Stripe and Wise."}],[{"start":149.49999999999997,"text":"In December, Airwallex came under scrutiny when prominent Silicon Valley investor Keith Rabois publicly accused the company of being a “Chinese backdoor into sensitive American data”."}],[{"start":159.39999999999998,"text":"Rabois, who is a board member of rival US fintech Ramp, alleged the company was “actually a Chinese engineering and legal apparatus with a global façade”, in comments on X. Arwallex at the time said the claim was “intentionally misleading”."}],[{"start":173.95,"text":"Australian founder Jack Zhang told the FT in December that a stake held by longtime Chinese shareholder Tencent had been diluted to “significantly less than 10 per cent” in a recent $330mn fundraising round, which valued Airwallex at $8bn."}],[{"start":190.64999999999998,"text":"New shareholders included US investors Robinhood Ventures and T Rowe Price. Airwallex last year also said it planned to obtain UK and US banking licences."}],[{"start":201.49999999999997,"text":"“We comply with all applicable laws and regulations in every market where we operate, including the US and China, and maintain regionally based teams to manage distinct regulatory and operational requirements,” the spokesperson said."}],[{"start":215.94999999999996,"text":"Additional reporting by Laith Al-Khalaf in London"}],[{"start":227.99999999999994,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780120006_2317.mp3"}