China's expansive espionage system is bigger, more pervasive, and more aggressive than that of the West, according to former intelligence insiders, The Telegraph reported.

Former FBI agent Mike Feinberg, who specialized in hunting Chinese spies inside the United States, told the Telegraph that China's intelligence operates across the "full spectrum" of activities — from traditional espionage to cyber theft, political influence, and corporate spying.

"There's really no limit to what the Chinese intelligence services will do."

"And look, let me be very clear: Western services are doing this too. The CIA, MI6, Australian SIS, CSIS in Canada, we're all trying to embed spies in each other's nations."

"That's what nations do," he added.

"The difference is China is really going after ordinary citizens for their political activities in a way that the Five Eyes intelligence services generally do not," he said.

Five Eyes (FVEY) is a multilateral intelligence-sharing alliance between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

The report comes as news of a case involving two British men accused of spying for China collapsed because evidence could not be obtained from the U.K. government, which referred to China as a national security threat.

Feinberg said Beijing also enables corporate espionage, helping its state-owned enterprises, which is something Western intelligence services generally refrain from doing.

He also noted that because China is authoritarian and doesn't face elections, it can be more patient in cultivating long-term relationships with assets.

Former Deputy Head of MI6 Nigel Inkster in an interview with The Telegraph last year described China's security threat as "fundamentally one of scale," meaning the danger isn't necessarily about elite spy craft but about how huge and pervasive the Chinese system is.

Several anonymous sources were also quoted by The Telegraph with key observations about China's vulnerability in espionage.

One source said Chinese agencies have a poor record of protecting or rescuing captured spies, unlike the U.S., U.K., or Russia.

Another told the outlet that Beijing has an "obsessive appetite for information," often collecting trivial data just to have it — a tendency that can actually be a "blessing" for Western agencies because it wastes Chinese resources on low-value targets.

• 900 Hikers Rescued on Everest Amid Severe Snowstorm
• UK Prosecutor Says a Spying Case Collapsed Because the Government Wouldn't Call China a Threat