The Government of the United States made public this Wednesday that it is willing to pay up to ten million dollars (8.9 million euros) for information that allows locating Zhang Yu, whom the authorities describe as an agent linked to the intelligence services of China.
The Rewards for Justice program of the State Department detailed that this individual "works for the Shanghai State Security Bureau, an intelligence service of the Chinese government."
According to the statement, "Zhang and his accomplices participated in multiple hacking campaigns to steal research data on COVID-19 from American victims and carry out cyber espionage," before offering "a reward" and "relocation" to those who provide relevant information about this man, "his accomplices or his malicious cyber activities."
The Department of Justice of the United States charges Zhang, 45, and another Chinese citizen named Xu Zewei --arrested in July 2025-- with a total of nine charges related to his alleged participation in "hacking intrusions" on U.S. territory between February 2020 and June 2021 "under the orders" of Beijing, in order to obtain "confidential" information about the coronavirus.
On that occasion, the U.S. prosecution argued that "the formal accusation alleges that Xu hacked and stole crucial information about COVID-19 at the behest of the Chinese government, while that same government simultaneously concealed information about the virus and its origins."