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The GCHQ intelligence agency said the data had been stockpiled in an “unrestrained campaign of malicious cyber-activities” by state-sponsored hackers. It includes classified information that could be used to take down the National Grid and spy on individuals at their workplaces.

It is a further blow to the government’s credibility after the collapse of a China spying case after the failure by senior civil servants to formally declare Beijing a “national security threat”.

Dominic Cummings, who served as a senior adviser to Boris Johnson, also revealed last week that China obtained “vast amounts” of classified government information over a period of many years.

Experts believe that much of the data has not yet been decrypted by China, but has rather been gathered for processing later in what experts call a “harvest now/decrypt later” attack. They believe the hackers are relying on quantum computers, which are advancing so rapidly they may become powerful enough to crack even the most secure forms of encryption within months.

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Security officials believe the vast haul of data gathered could allow Beijing to target individuals or employees, such as academics, scientists and civil servants, for espionage purposes in areas which would give the country a competitive advantage, including in tech companies, the defence industry and the energy sector.

Such individuals might be hacked or approached via social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, by Chinese agents. Having someone’s personal data, including bank details, could also make them susceptible to blackmail.

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