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VANCOUVER — Two years ago, F-Pacific Optical Communications — which describes itself as a “world leader” in making fibre optic components — announced at a press conference it had established a North American headquarters in this city and would build a manufacturing plant employing 200 people.

The company’s arrival was — and continues to be — billed as a major achievement for HQ Vancouver, an initiative formed in early 2015 with provincial and federal backing to entice Asian companies to set up head offices on the West Coast.

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But on a recent visit, the manufacturing plant in Surrey, B.C., sat vacant and a For Lease sign stood on the corner. The company’s parent corporation in China appears to be winding down operations amid a probe by Hong Kong’s stock market regulators into its financial statements.

A review of all nine companies that HQ Vancouver touted as “success stories” in its two-year progress report late last month reveals F-Pacific is not the only company whose North American expansion plans have sputtered, whose parent corporation has fallen under scrutiny or whose objectives have come under question.