Senior White House officials met on Friday with telecommunications executives to discuss China’s “significant cyber espionage campaign targeting the sector”, the White House said.

Earlier this month, US authorities said China-linked hackers had intercepted surveillance data intended for American law enforcement agencies after breaking into an unspecified number of telecom companies.

Senator Mark Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Washington Post on Thursday the breach was “worst telecom hack in our nation’s history — by far”.

The White House meeting was hosted by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology.

“The meeting was an opportunity to hear from telecommunications sector executives on how the US Government can partner with and support the private sector on hardening against sophisticated nation-state attacks,” the White House said in a statement.

The White House did not disclose the names of the telecommunications companies or the executives who attended the meeting.

Beijing has repeatedly denied claims by the US government and others that it has used hackers to break into foreign computer systems.