Chinese IT firms should fight discrimination, experts argue

Chinese information technology companies should join forces to fight against discrimination from the West, industry experts said, after reports suggested that Western spy agencies have banned equipment made by Lenovo Group Ltd over security concerns.

The world's largest PC maker has been banned from the secret networks of the intelligence and defense services of Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand, because of concerns Lenovo equipment is "vulnerable to being hacked", the Australian Financial Review reported.

The ban was introduced in mid-2000 after the agencies allegedly found back-door hardware and firmware vulnerabilities in Lenovo chips, said the report.