EXPERT network consulting company Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), of New York, has become the latest due diligence firm to cut jobs in China as Beijing intensifies its scrutiny on security grounds, reports London's Financial Times.

GLG, which maintains a network of specialists that global investors can tap to do due diligence on transactions, began laying off China staff last month, said several people familiar with the matter.

The lay-offs come as Beijing cracks down on foreign consultancies, alarming international investors at a time of growing tensions between the US and China. The campaign has made operating in China more difficult for foreign companies, which depend on the consultants to help navigate the world's second-largest economy.