China targets own operating system to take on Microsoft and Google

China could have a new homegrown operating system by October, to take on imports Microsoft, Google and Apple. The OS will initially be applicable to computers (desktops), after which mobile platforms would receive customised OS versions.

Ni Guangnan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering told People's Post and Telecommunications News, a trade paper run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) that they are hoping to release the Chinese-backed operating system supporting app stores.

"We hope to launch a Chinese-made desktop operating system by October supporting app stores," Ni told the trade paper. Some Chinese OS already existed, but there was a large gap between China's technology and that of developed countries, he added.

He said he hoped domestically built software would be able to replace desktop operating systems within one to two years and mobile operating systems within three to five years.

Ni leads an official operating system development alliance established in March by Beijing. He said the end of Windows XP support and the banning of Windows 8 on government computers opened the door to domestic OS developers.

The China OS is an attempt by that country to reduce its reliance on foreign technology and create software that is—or will eventually be—the equal of Windows and rival systems such as Linux, Android and Chrome OS. But China's efforts are more jingoistic than competitive. The government there has been spewing a steady stream of anti-western rhetoric for months now, even as China and its foes continue to spy on each other.

In March last year, China said that Google had too much control over China's smartphone industry via its Android mobile operating system and has discriminated against some local firms.

Mutual suspicions between China and the United States over hacking have escalated over the past year following revelations by Edward Snowden that US intelligence planted "backdoor" surveillance tools on U.S.-made hardware. The US Justice Department, meanwhile, indicted five Chinese military officers in May on counts of extensive industrial espionage.