The investigation into a pharmaceutical company in China is the latest blow to the confidence of foreign companies

AstraZeneca, the largest foreign pharmaceutical company in China, said on Wednesday that its Chinese President Leon Wang was under investigation on the mainland and that he had cooperated with an ongoing investigation.

The case appeared to be the first such investigation of a senior executive of a foreign company in China in recent years.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian neither confirmed nor denied the news on Thursday.

“China will protect foreign companies investing in China and protect their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law,” Lin said, without giving a reason for the investigation, providing details of Wang's whereabouts or confirming whether he is in imprisonment was.

Chinese investigators were looking into aggressive sales tactics for the company's cancer drugs, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.