Applied at Master Kong 康師傅 for U.S. market role

I recently had a job interview with Master Kong 康師傅 for a U.S. market role, and it turned out to be quite an unusual experience. The interviewer was focused on gathering market information rather than assessing my qualifications. He asked me about my salary history, which is not supposed to be a question in California, and then made a comment about being 'more American' than me. That was just the beginning. Throughout the interview, he probed me for specific names of customers I had sold to, distributors I knew, and trade shows I attended. It felt like he was conducting free market research rather than evaluating me as a candidate. At one point, when I mentioned a trade show where I had met significant buyers, he immediately wrote it down, which was the only time I saw him take notes. He also inquired about supermarket margins, which I explained I didn't know, since I only had pricing for different customer tiers. His response was that I should be able to figure out their margins based on the selling price at 99 Ranch, which was baffling. It felt like he expected me to do market analysis for them during the interview. This was the second time I encountered this type of interview process with a Chinese company recently. It left me questioning whether they were genuinely hiring or just using the interview to extract valuable market insights from candidates. I even reached out to their corporate offices in China and Hong Kong to report my experience, but I received no acknowledgment or response. If anyone is considering interviewing with them, be prepared for a similar situation.