HONG KONG — Officials from a Chinese government agency that enforces antimonopoly laws and other business regulations visited four Microsoft offices across China on Monday, the company said.
As the country more closely scrutinizes multinational companies, the disclosure raised the possibility that Microsoft might be in its cross hairs.
The officials from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce visited Microsoft offices in four cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu — Joanna Li, a public relations officer for the company, confirmed in a phone interview, answering questions about earlier reports in the Chinese news media.
"There was a visit from government officials to our offices," she said. "Given the sensitivity of the issue, I can't say anymore."
There was no announcement about the visits on the State Administration's website, and calls to its Beijing headquarters after working hours were not answered.
The State Administration led the way in investigating GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceutical giant whose employees in China have been accused of bribing doctors and hospital staff to use the company's products.
Microsoft's operating systems and software are widely used by Chinese businesses and government offices. Often, those products have been bootleg copies, but the company also has been the target of citizens' complaints that its dominance amounts to a monopoly that has allowed it to charge too much.
The Chinese news media have also named Microsoft as among the foreign technology companies likely to come under tighter government checks for security risks after the revelations by Edward J. Snowden about United States government surveillance.
"We aim to build products that deliver the features, security and reliability customers expect, and we're happy to answer the government's questions," Ms. Li said in an email.
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce is one of three agencies that have claimed a big role in enforcing China's antimonopoly law, which went into force in 2008. The others are the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission.
In June, President Xi Jinping of China reinforced longstanding government demands that China master and control new technologies, and reduce the country's reliance on foreign patents and suppliers.
"Only if core technologies are in our own hands can we truly hold the initiative in competition and development," Mr. Xi told Chinese scientists and engineers.
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