Companies including Apple and McAfee have been removed from China’s official list of approved products. The decision means that their products cannot be used by government departments equipping offices and data centres. The country has also dropped Cisco and Citrix.
The big-name tech firm’s products have been replaced with those of native companies like ZTE and Huawei. Experts say the change is part of an attempt to optimize the country’s own tech industry. Cisco once had around 60 products on China’s Procurement Centre list. The number of approved foreign firms seems to have dropped by around a third, with companies supplying security-related products being hit the hardest.
Some experts have linked the decision to US surveillance allegations raised by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
The China Institute of World Trade Organization Studies, TuXinquan, said: “The Snowden incident, it’s become a real concern, especially for top leaders.”
China recently brought in new rules about technology companies selling products to banks, with some being forced to hand over the source code of products. Various tech firms have submitted official objections to the rules whilst seeking more information about how they will work.
China recently overtook the US for iPhone sales.
