The Chinese citizen was working for the State Security Ministry, the security agency of the People's Republic of China, as a translator for official delegations and was gathering secret information about technical and repair documentation for the S-300 missile system.

Moscow: Russia today announced that it had arrested a Chinese spy who was trying to secure secret documents on the S-300 anti-missile system. The man Tun Shenjun was arrested last year in October, but his detention was only made public today, Ria Novosti reported quoting a statement by the Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

The statement said on questioning, the Chinese citizen had disclosed that he was working for the Chinese intelligence service. "It was established that the Chinese citizen was working for the State Security Ministry, the security agency of the People's Republic of China, as a translator for official delegations and was gathering secret information about technical and repair documentation for the S-300 missile system," the statement said.

The S-300 missile system has a capability of detecting and destroying 10 aerial targets in two minutes. The missile system was developed in Soviet era and has now been replaced by a more potent S-400 system. China which did not comment on the development has recently launched the development of an anti-missile shield similar to those it has purchased from Moscow.

The announcement of the arrest of the Chinese spy comes just a week before the visit of the Prime minister Vladimir Putin to China.

PTI