Watch as Grant Shapps and Oliver Dowden addressed the alleged China cybersecurity threat in Parliament on Monday, 25 March.

       It comes after Rishi Sunak said Britain is taking measures to protect itself from an “increasingly assertive” China after it was accused of a “malign” cyberattack on the UK.

       The prime minister described China as “also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security”, and the UK is preparing to sanction those believed to be involved in the state-backed interference.

       Chinese state-affiliated hackers were responsible for two “malicious cyber campaigns” targeting the Electoral Commission and MPs, the deputy prime minister told the House of Commons.

       Mr Dowden added that two individuals and a company linked to the Chinese state had been sanctioned over attacks on the Electoral Commission between 2021 and 2022.

       The same company also carried out “reconnaissance” activity against UK parliamentary accounts in a separate campaign in 2021, Mr Dowden said.