The two men and a woman had failed to gain permission for their eating establishment in Grozny, which saw heavy fighting and massive bombing in the 1990s and early 2000s as federal troops attempted to wrest back control of the separatist-led republic.
The detained, discovered during an Interior Ministry anti-illegal immigration operation, were also said to have infringed residency registration laws.
"It was determined that immigrants from the People's Republic of China had been illegally involved in work-related activities," the ministry said on its website.
The three Chinese nationals, a husband and wife and her cousin, had been running a family-run cafe serving traditional Chinese food.
The incident comes as life in Chechnya, despite continued shootouts and military operations, returns to relative stability following the chaos and widespread violence that characterized the two Chechen Wars.
Ramzan Kadyrov, son of late Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004 by insurgents loyal to the late militant leader, Shamil Basayev, was appointed president of Chechnya by Moscow in early 2007.
The 31-year-old former boxer has been credited with bringing stability to the region, despite continuing allegations of human rights abuses by his private militia. In 2007, in widely-criticized Russian parliamentary elections, Chechnya reported that 99% of voters in the republic had cast their ballot for the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.
