MI5 and GCHQ have warned universities to put national security before commercial interest as fears grow over state theft of research and intellectual property from campuses.

The agencies are concerned that a reliance on Chinese money and students, particularly postgraduates paying up to £50,000 a year in fees, makes some universities particularly vulnerable.

They are also urging chancellors to ensure that research and funding partnerships with Beijing do not compromise academic freedom or make campuses an “easy route for a hostile nation”.

An estimated 500 Chinese military scientists have spent time at British universities in the past decade. They include some who have worked on technologies linked to jet aircraft, supercomputers, missiles and even microscopically thin film that could be used to disguise tanks and