China's Ministry of State Security has told some state-linked organizations to remove a customized version of Windows 10 from their machines, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The order reportedly accelerates a planned retirement that the software's developer had scheduled for February 2027, and it sent Chinese OS vendors' shares surging, with Hunan Kylinsec and Archermind both hitting Shanghai's 20% daily limit and China National Software climbing 10%. Bloomberg's sources attributed the directive to data security concerns but didn't specify what vulnerabilities Beijing is worried about.
The affected software is the government edition developed by C&M Information Technologies (CMIT), a joint venture set up in 2016 between Microsoft and state-owned China Electronics Technology Group, with the Chinese side holding the majority stake. The build is based on Windows 10 Enterprise but strips out OneDrive and other consumer-facing components, disables certain native functions, keeps updates and activation inside China, and lets government users substitute Chinese encryption algorithms for Microsoft's standard cryptography. China Customs and Shanghai's Commission of Economy and Informatization were among the first pilot customers when the edition launched in 2017.
