A grand jury in the United States has charged five Chinese military officials of cyber spying on nuclear plant design from American companies.

A report from Reuters said that the move was the most difficult action that Washington has done since dealing with hacking after the said officials had spied on restricted information from the American companies.

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Meanwhile, China denied the allegations saying that the story was only made up and would harm the trust between the two countries. The foreign ministry of China also said that it would halt its Sino-US Internet activities.

The Washington authorities have argued that it has been years since cyber espionage became one of the United States' top security concerns.

The charges were filed by the US against specific military officials of another country which marked the first time the government has accused persons of corporate cyber espionage.

US Attorney General Eric Holder stated that "enough is enough" in reference to when another country utilizes military or intelligence tools and resources against a US firm or its executives to get trade secrets for the benefit of state-backed firms.

The announcement was made last week after claims surfaced regarding overseas espionage. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc. replied to the announcement asking the US President to limit the surveillance programs of the government.

On the other hand, the prosecutors of the case said that the officials have targeted companies in areas including Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh. The federal prosecutors also added that the suspects eyed the metal, solar energy and nuclear power sectors.

The targets of the cyber spying included Allegheny Technologies Inc, Alcoa Inc, Westinghouse Electric Co, United States Steel Corp and business arms of SolarWorld AG. This was a according to a statement released by the US justice department authorities.

Tagscyber spying, SolarWorld AG, Allegheny Technologies Inc, Alcoa Inc, Westinghouse Electric Co, United States Steel Corp, Cisco Systems Inc.