China offers businesses big opportunities, including the chance to have your data stolen
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Andy Wong/AP
A quarter of American businesses in China say they have experienced the expensive theft of proprietary data.
International businesses have flocked to China for years to try and grab a slice of the nation’s economic growth. That is why publishers never stop producing upbeat books such as this one, or this one, which appeal to entrepreneurs dreaming of the riches they could make by selling to just a fraction of the nation’s 1.35 billion people.
Yet according to a survey, a quarter of American businesses in China say they have experienced the expensive theft of proprietary data since setting up in the country.
Commercial data theft puts businesses at risk of having their technology and intellectual property stolen and copied. In February, American computer security firm Mandiant said in a report that hackers linked to the Chinese military were stealing technology blueprints, business plans, pricing documents and other sensitive material from American corporations and government departments.