HONG KONG — The aggressive expansion of the Chinese company Dalian Wanda Group into the American film industry drew increased scrutiny from Congress this week as a prominent lawmaker asked the Justice Department to review a spate of recent purchases by the company, which has close financial ties to relatives of senior Chinese Communist leaders.

The congressman, John Culberson, Republican of Texas and chairman of a subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department in the House Appropriations Committee, asked the department in a letter to review Wanda’s acquisitions as part of an effort to overhaul and possibly broaden rules on foreign purchases of United States companies and to review decades-old laws governing foreign agents in the country.

Wanda, now the world’s biggest owner of movie theaters, bought AMC Entertainment Holdings, a chain based in the United States, in 2012 and is bidding to buy its rival Carmike Cinemas. In January, Wanda bought Legendary Entertainment, a Hollywood production company, and Wanda’s billionaire chairman, Wang Jianlin, is seeking to buy a major Hollywood studio.