Foreign companies operating in China are coming under investigation over cyber security violations as Beijing beefs up its control over cloud computing and the internet of things, sparking fresh concern among multinationals in the world’s second-largest economy.

Beijing is set to implement a strengthened regime of cyber rules under its existing “multilevel protection scheme” (MLPS) in December, according to documents seen by the Financial Times that are yet to be publicly announced. The rules are aimed at fortifying “national information security”, even as US-China commercial tensions flare.

But it has emerged that foreign companies are already being scrutinised for possible cyber security violations. Kent Kedl, partner at Control Risks, a global risk management firm, said at least two foreign companies that deal with consumer data in China had been under official investigation for several months.