China's military has set up an elite Internet security task force tasked with fending off cyberattacks, but denied that it will create a "hacker army".

The People's Liberation Army invested millions in the project which are supposed to see off cyber attacks against civilian and military targets. China's defence ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng claimed that China wasc weak in cyber-security and has often been targeted. The 30-member "Cyber Blue Team" is the core of the PLA's cyber force and has been organised under the Guangdong military command in the country's south, and will carry out "cyber-warfare drills".

The United States, Australia, Germany and other Western nations have long moaned  that hackers inside China are carrying out a wide-range of cyberattacks on government and corporate computer systems worldwide. But the Chinese claim this was exaggerated and at the moment it was at the mercy of others.

US computer firm McAfee said in February that hackers from China have also infiltrated the computer networks of global oil companies, stealing financial documents on bidding plans and other confidential information.