Chinese entities world's biggest economic spies-Pentagon

Page last updated at 03:13 GMT, Saturday, May 19, 2012 - 08:13 EST

Reuters:

he Pentagon said on Friday it believes China spent up to $180 billion on its military buildup last year, a far higher figure than acknowledged by Beijing, and it accused "Chinese actors" of being the world's biggest perpetrators of economic espionage.

China rejected the report as irresponble, saying the United States was spreading a "China military threat" theory.

The Pentagon, in its annual report to Congress on China's military, flagged sustained investment last year in advanced missile technologies and cyber warfare capabilities and warned that Chinese spying threatened America's economic security.

"Chinese actors are the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage," the report said.

"Chinese attempts to collect U.S. technological and economic information will continue at a high level and will represent a growing and persistent threat to U.S. economic security."

Read the whole story: Reuters