Ammon News - Chinese police in the northeastern city of Harbin have accused the United States National Security Agency (NSA) of launching "advanced" cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February, targeting essential industries.

Police added three alleged NSA agents to a wanted list and also accused the University of California and Virginia Tech of being involved in the attacks after carrying out investigations, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.

The NSA agents were identified by Xinhua as Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling and Stephen W. Johnson. The three were also found to have "repeatedly carried out cyber attacks on China's critical information infrastructure and participated in cyber attacks on Huawei [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL] and other enterprises."

It did not specify how the two American universities were involved.

The U.S. Embassy in China did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The detailed allegations come as the world's two largest economies spiral deeper into a trade war that has already spurred travel warnings for Chinese tourists going to the U.S. and halted imports of U.S. films into China. Reuters