China’s government is considering removing high-end servers made by International Business Machines Corp. and replacing them with a local brand, amid recriminations of cyber-espionage between the U.S. and China, Bloomberg said citing sources familiar with the situation.
According to the sources, China's government agencies, including the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance, are reviewing whether Chinese commercial banks’ reliance on IBM servers compromises the nation's financial security. The investigation is conducted on a confidential basis.
The ban on IBM servers in China could add insult to injury: IBM’s revenue in this country plummeted 20% in the first quarter of 2014.
Prior to that, Beijing ordered state-owned enterprises to cut ties with U.S. consulting companies such as McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group because of fears they are spying for the U.S. government.
Last week the Chinese government said it would ban Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system on all government computers.
Shortly before that, the U.S. accused Chinese military officials of hacking into several U.S. corporations, including Alcoa, U.S. Steel and Westinghouse.