Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT

The FBI last week released a 35-minute video showing two Chinese nationals engaging in economic espionage by trying to bribe an employee at a US firm. The bureau also said China was "the most dominant threat" facing US companies in terms of economic espionage.

These words could be construed as sour grapes from the US, which has seen increasing competition in terms of technological and industrial innovation from Chinese companies in recent years. But an emotional reaction to the US accusation would not be helpful. What China should do is to defend itself on the basis of facts at a time when the country is facing increased accusations of economic espionage abroad. China also needs to issue new laws at home to protect Chinese companies, which are facing a growing risk from economic espionage themselves, because of their progress in developing new technologies that are now coveted by foreign rivals.

The FBI said it believed China is the main culprit behind a 53 percent surge in economic espionage cases its agents are investigating. According to media reports, 19 out of the 22 economic espionage cases made public by the US Justice Department in March 2014 involved Chinese nationals or Chinese companies.

But are all the accusations of economic espionage issued by the US justified? It is unusual to see almost all accusations targeting only one country, and it could trigger speculation that the economic counter-espionage investigations in the US are perhaps intentionally targeting China, given the improved technological innovation and industrial competitiveness of Chinese companies.

There is a risk that the US accusations could injure Sino-US relations. A recent example came in May when the Foreign Ministry of China said that China was "strongly concerned" about six Chinese nationals, including professors at Tianjin University, being charged with economic espionage in the US.

Tianjin University in May refuted the US accusations against its professors, saying their achievements were based on international scientific research rules and academic ethics, according to Xinhua News Agency. But it should be noted that hearings into economic espionage cases in the US are based not on international rules, but on domestic US laws such as the Economic Espionage Act (EEA). Media reports pointed out that US prosecutors have seen a high rate of success in economic espionage cases since the EEA was implemented in 1996.

The dispute over economic espionage should be discussed between China and the US via platforms such as the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue. The US should abandon protectionist measures and unnecessary suspicions over Chinese firms. At the same time, Chinese companies also need to further regulate investment behavior and adapt themselves to local laws.

Compared with the US, which is usually hyper-sensitive about economic espionage in order to protect its companies, China needs to do more to protect its own companies against economic espionage.

One-third of the world's new technical patents are currently created by Chinese companies every year and Chinese firms such as telecommunications giant Huawei and smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi have joined the ranks of the world's leading technological innovators. The fast-growing domestic consumer market in China has also lured some foreign companies to steal business secrets in a bid to obtain an unfair competitive advantage.

For instance, several members of staff at mining giant Rio Tinto Group were detained in Shanghai in 2009 on charges of stealing business secrets, but not many economic espionage cases have been made public by the Chinese authorities in recent years.

The often-silent Chinese intelligence services perhaps need to expose some hard evidence of espionage by foreign spies, and the country should also issue laws at home to protect Chinese companies from economic spies overseas.

Chinese lawmakers in 2014 approved a counter-espionage law and set out clear definitions of espionage. According to the bill, foreign organizations and individuals who conduct espionage activities or who instigate and sponsor others in conducting them will be punished. But the bill mainly focused on political espionage. Economic counter-espionage investigations should be further enhanced in the country in the future.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Hu Weijia based on an interview with Jiang Yong, a researcher with the Center for Economic Security Studies under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, and He Weiwen, co-director of the China-US/EU Study Center at the China Association of International Trade. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn