Prime Minister David Cameron is to enter talks with China over cyber spying after raising the issue with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang during his visit to the country.
It follows on from a long-running war of words between the US and China over allegations of spying, and last year's focus in the UK on whether Chinese technology firms such as Huawei - which have a growing presence in the Britain - pose a threat to national security.
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"I think that a proper cyber dialogue between countries is necessary and I have raised this with the Chinese leadership - that we need to properly discuss these issues. It is an issue of mutual concern and one that we should be discussing," Cameron said.
"What we need to do is up our investment in cyber security and cyber defence and that is exactly what GCHQ is doing," he added.
He went on to say that the government had increased its investment in cyber defence, with about $600m committed to it in the latest strategic defence and security review.
The Prime Minister said that he launched a partnership with China and UK industry to "make sure that we properly protect ourselves", adding that there is an enormous amount of work to be done.
The UK and US governments have identified China as a source of industrial espionage and hacking, but China has dismissed the claims, with one top Chinese official claiming that the country had "mountains of data" showing evidence of hacking originating from the US.
In July, talks between the US and China on cyber security had "progressed well" according to Chinese state media.
