China has urged the United States to abandon its new ban on government purchases of information-technology systems made in China, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The ban, signed by US President Barack Obama this week in a spending bill, will affect trust between the countries and harm their trade relations, ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beijing. Some analysts said the US is using concerns over cybersecurity to protect its own IT industry.

"China's information-technology industry has been developing rapidly in recent years, and this has had a great impact on the same industry in the US," said Ni Feng, a researcher of American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The provision bars the US Commerce and Justice departments, space agency NASA and the National Science Foundation from buying IT systems "produced, manufactured or assembled" by any entity that is "owned, operated or subsidized" by China.

The agencies can only acquire the technology if, in consultation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, they determine there is no risk of "cyberespionage or sabotage associated with the acquisition of the system".

Yitai Hu, a Silicon Valley-based partner with US law firm Alston & Bird LLP who specializes in intellectual-property litigation, said the ban doesn't include guidance on implementation.

"Although cybersecurity no doubt is a major concern for both China and the US, the prohibition seems overly broad and lacks proper guidance on the scope of the prohibition," he said.

The ban "uses cybersecurity as an excuse to take discriminatory steps against Chinese companies", the ministry's Hong said.

The US has stepped up rhetoric against China since US Internet security firm Mandiant Corp released a report in February alleging that a secret Chinese military unit in Shanghai was behind years of hacking attacks against the networks of Western companies, mostly in the US.

China has insisted that the allegations are groundless.

"The motivations of Mandiant's report are unclear, and the timing is questionable," Zhu Zhiqun, a political-science professor at Pennsylvania's Bucknell University, said at the time.

Also on Thursday, the US and Japan said they will conduct their first dialogue on cybersecurity, at a meeting in Tokyo in May, Kyodo News reported.

The two said cyberattacks from countries including China are new threats to their national security, according to Kyodo.

The head of the US Cyber Command, General Keith Alexander, said earlier this month that the American military is developing 40 teams of cyberagents who will protect the nation's critical infrastructure from hackers, and launch attacks against adversaries.

Yang Yujun, a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, said the source of any cyberattack is hard to pinpoint. "Cyberattacks are a global issue - anonymous, cross-border and deceptive."

Yang, at a news conference on Thursday, reiterated Chinese arguments that the US makes accusations about other countries while developing its own offensive capability in cyberspace. "What is needed in cyberspace is peace and cooperation, not war and confrontation," he said.

The ban on US government purchases of Chinese IT equipment "could turn out to be a harsh blow" for computer maker Lenovo Group and "bring some surprises for American companies selling commercial IT gear to the government", Stewart Baker wrote on the Volokh Conspiracy, a blog about the US legal system. White is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP and a former assistant US secretary of homeland security.

Ni, the Chinese researcher, said "cybersecurity serves as a good cause for the US to contain the development of China's information technology industry in order to protect its own".

The ban will affect China's IT exports to the US and development of Chinese companies in the industry that operate in the US, he said.

In October, the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in a report urged US companies not to do business with Chinese telecommunication giants Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp because of potential security threats.

Carl Valenstein, of the law firm Bingham McCutchen LLP, said CFIUS, an interagency panel that reviews sensitive foreign deals, will continue to scrutinize Chinese investments in certain industries given the growing concerns over cybersecurity.

Contact the writers at chengguangjin@chinadaily.com.cn and puzhendong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/29/2013 page1)