Fact of the Week: More Than 90 Percent of US Economic Espionage Prosecutions Involve China

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, “Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein Announces Charges Against Chinese Hackers,” news release, December 20, 2018.

Commentary: Economic espionage represents a significant threat to the technological advantage of innovative companies, especially in high-tech sectors, where trade secrets are often worth billions of dollars. According to the Justice Department, China is by far the largest source of economic espionage, much of which is government-backed. In fact, Justice announced that between 2011 and 2018, more than 90 percent of economic espionage cases it prosecuted involve China. Likewise, more than two-thirds of cases involving trade-secret theft are connected to China.