Apple products to be excluded from government purchasing list

The Chinese government has excluded Apple products such as the iPad, iPhone and Macbook from a list of products that can be purchased with public money over security concerns.

Ten apple products including the iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, Macbook, and Macbook air were omitted from a final government procurement list distributed in July according to officials who asked to remain unnamed.

The list was drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, the officials said.

Apple is the latest United States technology company to be excluded from the china’s government procurement lists.

Other companies removed from the list include anti-virus makers Symantec Corp. and Kaspersky lab. Microsoft has also been shut out of government purchases.

The heightened scrutiny of foreign companies comes after American whistle blower Edward Snowden’s revelations last year of the United States National Security Agency’s spying program.

China said in may that it would vet technology companies operating in the country for potential national security breaches.

Apple declined comment on the report.

Microsoft in May said it was surprised that its windows 8 operating system was excluded from government purchases. The Xinhua news agency called the move a way to ensure computer security.

Last month, CCTV broadcasted a report showing location based tracking features found on the iPhone, CCTV claimed that the services were a possible national security breach. Apple has denied those allegations.

The story is broadcast by Eric Jou.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）