The European Union (EU) on Friday agreed to new rules that willgrant it authority to impose travel bans and asset freezes againstindividuals responsible for cyberattacks that pose a significantthreat to the bloc.

The new rules come amid concerns by European and U.S. officialsover cyberattacks related to election meddling or intellectualproperty theft by actors linked to Russia and China.

The measures, which aim to “deter and respond to cyberattackswhich constitute an external threat to the EU,” would apply toactors responsible for attacks originating outside the bloc, theCouncil of EU member states said in a statement.

The bloc said it would also consider measures in response toattacks targeted at countries outside the EU or internationalorganizations.

Bloomberg reported earlier this week that EU governments hadreached a deal on the new sanctions regime.

“Our message to governments, regimes, and criminal gangsprepared to carry out cyberattacks is clear: Together, theinternational community will take all necessary steps to uphold therule of law and the rules-based international system which keepsour societies safe,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in astatement.

EU member states in recent months had been mulling a jointresponse to attacks allegedly conducted by a Chinese state-linkedhacker group known as APT 10, after the U.K. presented evidenceabout network infiltration.

The bloc in the end issued a statement in April,according to a person familiar with the matter, urging “actors tostop undertaking such malicious activities” but made no explicitmention of China or the hacker group. The statement was issuedthree days after a summit of EU and Beijing leaders in Brussels,where the bloc claimed it won important Chinese concessions overcurbing subsidies to domestic industries and facilitating marketaccess for foreign companies.