China to take on US computer giants

China could have a new homegrown computer operating system by October to take on rivals such as Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Apple Inc, Xinhua news agency said yesterday.

Computer technology has became an area of tension between China and the United States after a number of run-ins over cyber security. China is now looking to help its domestic industry catch up with imported systems such as Microsoft's Windows and Google's mobile operating system Android, according to Xinhua.

The operating system would first appear on desktop devices and later extend to smartphones and other mobile devices, Xinhua said, citing Ni Guangnan, who heads an official OS development alliance established in March.

Ni's comments were originally reported by the People's Post and Telecommunications News, an official trade paper run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. "We hope to launch a Chinese-made desktop operating system by October supporting app stores," Ni told the paper. Some Chinese OS existed, but there was a large gap between China's technology and that of developed countries, he added.

"China has more than a dozen mobile OS developers with no independent intellectual property rights because their research is based on Android," said Ni, adding that future development should be led by the government.

There are still problems, including a lack of research funds and too many developers pulling in different directions, Ni said.

He said he hoped domestic software would be able to replace desktop operating systems within one to two years and mobile operating systems within three to five years.

In May, China banned government use of Microsoft's Windows 8, a blow to the US technology firm's business. Microsoft is also under investigation for anti-trust violations.

In March last year, China said Google had too much control over China's smartphone industry via its Android mobile operating system and had discriminated against some local firms.

Mutual suspicions between China and the US over hacking have escalated over the past year following revelations by Edward Snowden that US intelligence planted "backdoor" surveillance tools on US-made hardware.

The US Justice Department, meanwhile, indicted five Chinese military officers in May on counts of industrial espionage.

Ni said the ban on Windows 8 was a major opportunity for the Chinese sector to push forward its own systems.

"Creating an environment that allows us to contend with Google, Apple and Microsoft — that is the key to success," he said.