China is investigating whether Apple products are a security threat

Apple products are coming under increased scrutiny in China as the state is starting to ask more questions about the company's products. The New York Times reports.

The Chinese government has reportedly started to increase the number of reviews it carries out into products being sold in the country. These investigations, which target other companies as well as Apple, look into the capability of electronic devices sold in the country, and examine things like encryption and data storage.

The uptick in the number of reviews by the Chinese government will be a worry for Apple as the company is trying to ensure that it has a working relationship with the state. The country is an increasingly an important market for Apple, but received a blow in April when the Chinese government forced the shutdown of iBooks and iTunes Movies.

Its recent $1 billion investment in on-demand taxi service Didi Chuxing has been interpreted as a peace offering to the government.

The New York Times reports that Apple admitted in a hearing that the Chinese government has twice asked the company to share the source code for its products, but the company refused. That's a very different policy to Microsoft, which does share its source code with both China and Russia.