--- description: The U.S. counterintelligence chief expressed skepticism surrounding China’s recent commitment to stop spying on the United States. title: U.S. Intelligence Chief Doubts China Has Halted Espionage image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta285f407a2151659/698871dfe20a87367da8e4d4/gettyimages-490004904.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [National Security](/tag/national-security/) ## National Security Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Counterintelligence Chief Not Convinced China Has Halted Espionage by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 19, 2015 4:00 AM CUT  U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk arrive to a joint news conference at The White House on Sept. 25, 2015 in Washington, DC U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk arrive to a joint news conference at The White House on Sept. 25, 2015 in Washington, DCMark Wilson—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 19, 2015 4:00 AM CUT China has not [backed up](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/18/us-usa-cybersecurity-idUSKCN0T72XG20151118#AObmt4ryyZBmQSds.97 "undefined") its recent pledge to curb spying on the U.S. with concrete action, according to Washington’s counterintelligence chief. The two countries agreed not to knowingly use hacking for commercial purposes during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official state visit to the White House in September, reports Reuters, with officials from both governments due to meet early next month to discuss that accord. However, Bill Evanina, head of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), said at a press briefing on Wednesday that he has seen “no indication” from the American private sector to suggest that Chinese espionage has diminished. The U.S. government is aware that foreign intelligence services have increased efforts to target and collect American data in recent years, said Evanina, accusing China of technology theft from U.S. industry. He said his agency’s polls reveal that the majority of foreign espionage cases targeting American companies have involved China. The NCSC published a 2016 “National Counterintelligence Strategy” plan on Wednesday, which Evanina said is the first report of its kind to address threats created by computer databanks and smartphone technology. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/18/us-usa-cybersecurity-idUSKCN0T72XG20151118 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4119752/us-china-espionage-intelligence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4119752/us-china-espionage-intelligence/"},"headline":"U.S. Counterintelligence Chief Not Convinced China Has Halted Espionage","datePublished":"2015-11-19T04:00:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:45:23.049Z","description":"The G-20 pledged this week to comply with cybersecurity rules barring commercial espionage","url":"https://time.com/4119752/us-china-espionage-intelligence/","keywords":["National Security","China","Hacking","Data topic","intelligence","us","espionage"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta285f407a2151659/698871dfe20a87367da8e4d4/gettyimages-490004904.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta285f407a2151659/698871dfe20a87367da8e4d4/gettyimages-490004904.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping For State Visit","caption":"President Obama Hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping For State Visit","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4119752/us-china-espionage-intelligence/","name":"U.S. Counterintelligence Chief Not Convinced China Has Halted Espionage"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"China's Most Powerful Man: Xi Jinping","description":"This is Chinese president Xi Jinping and he might be one of China's most powerful leaders in history.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/twYpQ2SN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-25T17:48:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/twYpQ2SN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4119752/us-china-espionage-intelligence/","duration":"PT2M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4119752/us-china-espionage-intelligence/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```