U.S. Congress urged to consider sanctions on Chinese cyber-spies

A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Files

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers should look into options for punishing cyber-spying and the theft of trade secrets from U.S. companies, a congressional advisory committee on China said on Thursday.

Congress should ask U.S. trade officials to report on whether they had power to sanction companies that benefited from stealing trade secrets, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its annual report to Congress.