China’s top counter-espionage agency has accused the United States of conducting cyberattacks against the country’s national time centre, which it said could have had a severe impact on the orderly functioning of society.In a social media post on Sunday, the Ministry of State Security said the US National Security Agency was behind a number of cyberattacks against China’s National Time Service Centre.

The centre – affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and based in Xian, Shaanxi province – is responsible for generating and distributing China’s standard time.

It also provides highly precise timing services for the country’s communications, finance, power, transport, mapping and defence sectors.

The US embassy in China did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

America’s NSA has been accused of conducting cyberattacks against China’s National Time Service Centre. Photo: Corbis via Getty Images

In Sunday’s statement, the ministry said the cyberattacks against the time centre were “long-term, highly covert, and employed state-level cyberespionage tools”.