I'm not sure and I don't want to misspeak. I know that my company does not do such a thing, and my phone when roaming (Project Fi) bypasses the GFW. However, I do know there are specific different IT infra requirements when connecting from China but none that are gov-monitoring related. It may be a misunderstanding, or it may be a procedure that your friends' IT was following that we aren't.
That being said, foreigners accessing the normal WWW is really not a major concern if you think about it.
That being said, foreigners accessing the normal WWW is really not a major concern if you think about it.