"We believe the successful development of the Simandou project will greatly quicken the pace of local infrastructure construction and economic development, " Mr Xiong Weiping said.

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Prof Wen Weiping at the School of Software and Microelectronics at Peking University also backs these claims by telling China Daily that "cyber-sabotage" targeting China is growing rapidly.

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The government of Wuxi, the city where Suntech is headquartered, has come to Suntech's aid in the past -- and appears to be taking an even more active role in the company with the appointment earlier this week of a new president, Zhou Weiping, who previously worked for the government-backed Wuxi Guolian Development Co.

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