Guard against ‘handsome men’ and ’beautiful women’; they may lure you into espionage, China’s spy agency warns students

China's spy agency has warned its students with access to sensitive data against falling for "handsome men" or "beautiful women" who might lure them into spying for foreignentities and compromising national security.

In a statement posted on WeChat, the Ministry of State Security on Wednesday released detailed cautions to students whom it said could be manipulated in a number of ways to give up information.

The ministry said that foreign spies are working to lure loyal Chinese to betray their country -- often in lurid and unusual ways -- since opening a WeChat account last year.

State security departments have found that workers of foreign espionage and intelligence organisations have carried out targeted wooing and infiltration of young students, it added.

However, the agency did not reveal specific details of any countries that have targeted Chinese students.

"They take advantage of the characteristics of young students' strong curiosity and willingness to try new things," a statement said.

The foreign spies lure young Chinese students “with high-paying part-time opportunities in the name of market research or academic exchanges,” it also said.

Further, the Chinese spy agency said that after students show interest, foreign intelligence agencies offer so-called free training and guidance through social media, telephone, or video conferencing.

They even put on the “disguise of handsome guys and beautiful women who are intimate and considerate, dragging young students into the trap of love with false feelings.”

In another advisory this month, the agency had warned the public to beware of “wolves in sheep's clothing”, foreign intelligence agents pretend to be “good Samaritans”.

In June, the agency had accused Britain’s spy organisation MI6 of recruiting a couple who worked for the central government of China to spy for the UK.

China and Western powers have long traded accusations of spying but only recently started to disclose details of alleged individual cases.