Federal prosecutors are expected to unseal criminal charges as soon as next week against hackers linked to the Chinese government who have allegedly engaged in a sophisticated multiyear scheme to break into U.S. technology service providers in order to compromise the networks of their clients, according to people familiar with the matter.

U.S. officials have described the hacking campaign as one of the most audacious and damaging orchestrated by China to date, intended to steal intellectual property and support Beijing’s espionage...