In an attempt to dispel China's security concerns, Apple has begun keeping personal data of some of its Chinese users on servers located in mainland China. This is the first time that the tech company is storing user data in Chinese territory.

Apple will store its private user data on state-controlled China Telecom's internet-based storage. In a statement released Friday, the company said the stored data will be encrypted, meaning China Telecom will not have access to the content.

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Although some tech companies such as Google refuse to build data centers in China due to some privacy concerns and censorship issues, Apple confirms that this move is part of an effort to improve on its iCloud services where users store pictures, email and other data.

China Telecom is the third largest wireless carrier in the world, and Apple believes this will help incease bandwidth and improve services for users in China.

According to a statement posted in the Fuzhou City Government website, China Telecom has confirmed that Apple has been storing its iCloud data on its servers since August 8.

After rigorous tests and evaluations for the past 15 months, China Telecom emerged as Apple's only cloud service provider in China.

Since all user data is encrypted, encryption keys for Apple's data are stored offshore and will not be available to China Telecom.

Apple has devised this encryption system that even Apple itself cannot unlock. But many are worried about Apple's ability to withold user data upon the event of a government request.

China is an impregnable yet attractive market for U.S. tech companies, even when political tensions are high brought about by cybersecurity concerns.

In July, China's state media branded Apple's iPhone as a danger to national security because of the smartphone's ability to track user locations.

Although Apple denied collaborating with the U.S. government agencies to create "backdoors" to access private user data, Apple said in a statement that they have never allowed access to their servers.

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