The technology gap between US security companies and their Chinese counterparts is about three years in the DLP sector, Wang said.

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Since Symantec entered China in 1998, the company has forged a deep partnership with Chinese IT manufacturers, including Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Lenovo Group Ltd. Earlier this year, Symantec united with Lenovo in developing security services for the Chinese company's server products.

Working with local hardware makers helped it to secure business in China, analysts said.

Symantec leads the Chinese enterprise security market with an approximately one-fourth share, according to IDC. Beijing Rising Information Technology Co Ltd, the largest local security provider, has roughly 8 percent of the market.

The recent development will hurt Symantec's China business in the long term as continuous government support gradually offsets overseas companies' technology advantage, sources said.

"The government's move of ousting overseas software will help local companies to gain market share," said Zhang Yumu, vice-president of Rising. In mid-May, China announced it was reviewing foreign-made IT products because of cybersecurity concerns.

According to IDC data, the Chinese IT security market was worth $1.89 billion in 2013, a 13.6 percent year-on-year increase.