According to a recent report by the China Daily, 22 Chinese companies have formed an alliance to back the WAPI (WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure) standard, a home-grown encryption technology for WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) equipment aimed at reducing reliance on foreign technologies and stimulate development of new industries. The new alliance, which includes China Mobile, China Telecom, Founder, Lenovo, Hisense, Haier, Huawei, Datang Microelectronics Technology, and Datang Mobile, is expected to stimulate development of WAPI-compatible network equipment. The WAPI standard is seen as a competitor to the 802.11i standard, which is being pushed by companies including Intel and which has the support of the US government.