Editor's note: Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

It's no secret that countries spy on one another, so on the surface, the accusation from Chinese cybersecurity firm Qihoo 360 that the CIA has been spying on China for the past 11 years wouldn't ordinarily warrant much attention. It's the details, however, that make this story very newsworthy. According to reports, the company believes that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency hacked China's government agencies, scientific research organizations, aviation sector, and energy industry.

Qihoo 360 compared the viruses that it discovered with the revelations made by Wikileaks' Vault 7 disclosures about the CIA's spying tools to arrive at its scandalous conclusion. The firm's findings confirm that the information the transparency advocacy organization shared with the public was accurate, which was never truly in doubt anyhow since Wikileaks thus far hasn't ever shared anything fraudulent. Nevertheless, this observation adds credence to the world's suspicion that the CIA is spying on everyone and everything.

Analyzing the details of Qihoo 360's claims, it's clear that the U.S.' anti-Chinese intelligence strategy is actually pretty simple. The agency obviously wants to obtain classified information that could give it an edge against what it's declared to be one of its "great power rivals", but there's also more to it. The targeting of scientific research agencies, the aviation sector, and energy industry can be described as "industrial espionage" in the sense that America wants to steal China's trade secrets for economic gain.

This strongly suggests that the U.S. fears that its research organizations and certain industries aren't as competitive as they used to be, which is a fair assertion to make seeing as how Chinese companies have become globally renowned for a reason whereas American ones generally aren't as popular as they used to be. The CIA most likely intended to share the information that it attempted to steal with its country's relevant companies, whether they were aware of the source or if they simply received an unsolicited email for example.