IBM has made a politically sensitive decision to let China’s government review its software’s source code, in a move that probably won’t sit too well with the present Obama administration.

The unusual step was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which said IBM allowed officials from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to view its proprietary source code in a controlled environment to prevent them from stealing any secrets.

The reason for such a step is obvious – IBM wants to secure a position in the highly profitable Chinese market, where some of its products have previously been subjected to a review to ensure they don’t present a security risk.

The WSJ didn’t reveal exactly which software products IBM allowed the Chinese government to scrutinize, other than saying it allowed officials to “view the source code on an IBM security application to prevent other people from poaching the company’s IP”. It added that the demonstration only lasted a few hours, which means it’s more of a symbolic gesture than anything else, as officials wouldn’t have had enough time to check for secret “backdoors” through which systems could be infiltrated.

“Strict procedures are in place within these technology demonstration centers to ensure that no software source code is released, copied or altered in any way,” a spokesperson for IBM told the WSJ.

The timing of the move is interesting, as it comes just days after IBM said it would be making its Bluemix platform available in China, through a collaboration with 21Vianet Group Inc., which will provide data center space to IBM in the country.

China’s concerns over U.S. technology date were raised following whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations about alleged “backdoors” implanted in tech firm’s products, and the country has recently been applying pressure on said firms to reveal their source codes for some time. U.S. firms have largely resisted this pressure – and they have the backing of president Obama’s administration – but IBM has clearly decided its to its advantage to play ball with the Chinese government.

However, an IBM spokesperson did remind the WSJ that it’s not the first tech firm to agree to make this kind of accommodation to a foreign government – back in 2003, Microsoft made a similar agreement with the governments of China, Russia and the U.K. to let their experts review Windows’ source code.

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