Two Canadians were prosecuted for allegedly spying in China on Friday, officials said.

Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, was charged by the No 2 branch of Beijing People's Procuratorate with the crime of prying into State secrets and intelligence gathering for overseas forces, a statement of the prosecuting authority said.

At the same time, in Dandong, a city in Northeast China's Liaoning province, businessman Michael Spavor was prosecuted on the charge of stealing and illegally providing State secrets to overseas forces, a statement of local prosecutors added.

Both the Canadians were detained in December 2018 by the Chinese government on "suspicions of engaging in activities that endanger national security".