US and China agree to stop cyber-theft for profit

The United States and China have agreed not to conduct or condone cyber attacks on each other's private sector for commercial gain, US President Barack Obama and his counterpart Xi Jinping said Friday.

"I indicated it has to stop," Obama said at a joint news conference at the White House after a morning of summit negotiations.

"We've agreed that neither the US or the Chinese government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information for commercial advantage."

Xi confirmed the agreement, saying: "The competent authorities of both countries have reached important consensus on joint fight against cyber crimes.

"Both sides agreed to step up criminal investigation cooperation and information sharing and both governments would not engage in and not support online theft of intellectual property and we will explore the formulation of appropriate state behavior norms in cyber space."

Neither government gave an engagement to abstain from state-to-state espionage, but both gave an undertaking not to seek to give their private companies assistance in stealing trade secrets or intellectual property.

© 2015 AFP