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Press materials are displayed on a table of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 2014, before Attorney General Eric Holder was to speak at a news conference.

The U.S. dramatically escalated its battle to curb Chinas technology theft from American companies by accusing five Chinese military officials of stealing trade secrets, casting the hacker attacks as a direct economic threat.

The indictment effectively accuses China and its government of a vast effort to mine U.S. technology through cyber-espionage, stealing jobs as well as the innovation on which the success of major global companies like United States Steel Corp. (X) and Alcoa Corp. (AA) depends.

While hundreds of U.S. entities have been penetrated by Chinese military hackers since 2002, the Justice Department focused on five companies specializing in solar panels, metals and next-generation nuclear power plants. Four companies are headquartered or have main offices in Western Pennsylvania and officials calculated the toll in human terms.

The lifeblood of any organization is the people who work, strive and sweat for it, David Hickton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said at a news conference in Washington. When these cyber-intrusions occur, production slows, plants close, workers get laid off and lose their homes.

The charges, unsealed today in District Court in Pennsylvania, allege the Chinese officers conspired to steal trade secrets and other information from U.S. companies, including Westinghouse Electric Co. and Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial Services Workers International Union.

A Chinese flag is adjusted before at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Close

A Chinese flag is adjusted before at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

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A Chinese flag is adjusted before at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

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U.S. Said to Charge Chinese Military Officers With Online Spying