Security service says academics should stop taking grants from and working with firm backed by China’s intelligence service

• MI5 China alert will send chill through UK’s cash-strapped universities

China’s intelligence service used a front company to pay grants to British universities and steal crucial research about technology projects, MI5 said on Wednesday in a rare public espionage warning.

Britain’s domestic security service said researchers and academics should cease work with the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI), sometimes also known as the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT). MI5 believes it poses a “significant threat”.