GALLUP, the polling and consulting group, is pulling out of China, the latest foreign company to depart amid increasing scrutiny of western consultancies and rising geopolitical risk, reports London's Financial Times.

The Washington-based advisory group, which first came to China in 1993, employed dozens of staff at its offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to public payroll records, many of whom work as consultants helping Chinese companies re-engineer their organisations and optimise marketing.

Gallup also has an educational and training arm in China, but it has long faced difficulties conducting the public polling it is best known for globally because of strict Chinese rules governing foreign groups carrying out public opinion surveys.

Gallup told clients this week it was retreating from China, according to three people close to the matter. It advised customers that it would move some projects outside the country, while others would be cancelled.

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