China has ordered its government officials to abandon the use of foreign-branded devices, including the iPhone, for work over alleged cybersecurity concerns, a media report said.

“In recent weeks, officials were instructed (not to use the devices) by their superiors in workplace communication channels, as part of Beijing's ongoing efforts to reduce reliance on foreign tech, enhance cybersecurity, and restrict the flow of sensitive data across China's borders,” The Wall Street Journalreported on Wednesday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The report could not be independently verified, nor was there any official reaction from Chinese authorities or Apple, the maker of the iPhone.

Apple generates around 19 percent of its revenue from China, its second-largest market after the US.

Beijing's move comes as US officials, at the federal and state level, have also restricted the use of Chinese devices including those from Huawei as well as social media giant TikTok.

Not the first time

This is not the first time that China has warned against the use of foreign technology. In May Beijing bannedMicron's products, saying the US chipmaker had failed a security review.

China's cybersecurity watchdog told "operators of critical information infrastructure" to stop purchasing its products.

Micron's products "have relatively serious potential network security issues, which pose a major security risk to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain and affect China's national security", the cybersecurity administration said in a statement.