China accelerates removal of Windows 10 Government Edition from state agencies

China has accelerated its plan to remove a customized version of Microsoft Windows 10 from government systems, ordering some state-linked organizations to uninstall the software months ahead of its scheduled retirement. The directive, issued by the Ministry of State Security, marks a significant step in the country's long-running campaign to replace foreign technology with domestic alternatives.

The affected software is the Windows 10 China Government Edition, developed by CM Information Technologies Co. (CMIT). CMIT was established in 2016 as a joint venture between Microsoft and the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, with the Chinese side holding a majority stake. The operating system was specifically modified to comply with Beijing's security requirements, including the addition of Chinese cybersecurity features, the disabling of certain native functions, and the substitution of Microsoft's standard cryptography with Chinese encryption algorithms.

According to people familiar with the matter, the Ministry of State Security recently instructed affected entities to begin uninstalling the software. This move accelerates a retirement plan that CMIT had...