United States President Barack Obama is reportedly preparing a new major policy shift in the phone-metadata-surveillance operations of the National Security Agency (NSA) following a surge of public outcry against US cyber-espionage activities.

The new policy will overhaul the controversial surveillance program, and is expected to terminate the NSA-led data and information gathering through the monitoring of phone conversations of both American and international personalities.

Like Us on Facebook

Included in the surveillance operations of the NSA is the penetration of the servers of the Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., currently the world's second largest provider of network equipment and third biggest supplier of phones in the world.

According to a New York Times report, the NSA initiated "Operation Shot Giant" against Huawei where American surveillance monitored all communications of the Chinese telecommunications technology giant by using the Huawei industrial and commercial equipment it sold all over the world. The NSA is allegedly attempting to uncover connections between Huawei and the People's Liberation Army.

The White House move is the first major U.S. action to appease a global fury on the NSA's local and international spying activities. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked reams of alleged official classified U.S. documents detailing the so-called phone-metadata collection.

The NSA phone-metadata operations started during the term of former U.S. President George W. Bush immediately after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.

President Obama's proposal, to be presented before the U.S. Congress, will have private phone companies like AT&T and Verizon retain all phone records instead. These private companies will no longer be required to retain data and information beyond the prescribed period they are currently implementing.

The radical change in policy is not a new concept since the President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies already recommended these changes when it submitted its report last December 2013.

The new surveillance initiative failed to appease several of the affected parties allegedly spied on by the NSA. China for its part asked the United States to explain in detail its surveillance activities and terminate its operations immediately.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said during a daily press briefing that China is "seriously concerned" over the actions of the United States based on media disclosures of massive surveillance, eavesdropping and stealing of information against China and private Chinese companies like Huawei.