TPG, the US private equity firm, risks losing a substantial investment in a Chinese leasing venture after a business dispute in which the company’s local staff called in police to remove TPG’s representatives, people familiar with the matter say.

The difficulties that developed between TPG and local managers of Nissin Leasing (China), a subsidiary of Japan’s Nissin Group, underscore the risks of investing in China and come at a particularly bad time for the US private equity firm.