BBC News – US authorities have charged Chinese national Xu Jiaqiang with three counts of economic espionage for allegedly stealing valuable source code from his former employer in the US. The Department of Justice did not name the employer, but it is widely reported to be software developer IBM.

BBC新闻 – 美国当局以三项经济间谍罪起诉中国公民许家强（音），控告他涉嫌从前美国雇主那里盗窃重要的源代码。司法部没有提雇主的名字，但媒体广泛报道是软件开发商IBM。

The source code has been described as "a product of decades of work". Mr Xu intended to sell the code for his own profit and for the benefit of the Chinese government, authorities said. On Tuesday, the DOJ said Mr Xu planned to share the valuable source code with the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China.

该源代码被称为“几十年工作的成果”。许某原打算出售代码为自己谋利，并让中国政府受益，当局说。周二，司法部说，许某计划与中华人民共和国国家卫生和计划生育委员会分享这款很有价值的源代码。

The US Attorney's office said Mr Xu had worked as a developer for "a particular US company" from November 2010 to May 2014. IBM's website, however, has a Xu Jiaqiang still listed as a developer. The company has not commented.

美国检察官办公室说，许某从2010年11月至2014年5月在“某美国公司”任开发员。但IBM的网站仍然有个许家强在开发员名单之列。公司未予置评。

The source code in question was a clustered file system - or one that helps a computer's performance "by coordinating work among multiple servers".

涉案源代码是个集群文件系统 – 或者说是“以协调多个服务器之间工作的方式”改善电脑性能的系统。

China and the US have both flung accusations at each other over state-backed hacking and theft of secrets.

中美均指控对方从事国家撑腰的黑客攻击和窃密行为。

China has said in the past that it does not engage in theft of commercial secrets in any form. President Xi Jinping said last year that Beijing does not encourage or support such practices in any way.

中国过去曾说过，不从事任何形式的窃取商业机密行为。习近平主席去年说，北京不以任何方式鼓励或支持这种做法。

Mr Xu is set to answer the charges in the US on Thursday 16 June. Each of the three counts of espionage carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The three counts of theft of a trade secret each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

许某预定于6月16日周四在美出庭应诉。三项间谍罪中，每项罪名最高可判15年监禁。三项盗窃商业机密罪中，每项罪名最高可判刑10年。