The foreign company had outsourced the job to a Chinese firm licensed for mapping, according to China's State Security Ministry Chinese authorities have accused an unnamed foreign company of conducting illegal mapping activities under the guise of intelligent driving research,

The unidentified international firm illegally conducted geographic mapping activities in the name of implementing autonomous driving research projects, China’s state security ministry said.

China’s Ministry of State Security accused an overseas firm and a local company of illegally collecting geographic information under the guise of doing research for smart driving technology, but didn’t identify the companies.