China has decided to stick with Windows XP, even though the operating system reached its "end of life" on April 8, when Microsoft stopped supporting the OS released in 2001.

Senior official Yan Xiaohong said, although security problems could arise with computers still running Windows XP and become more vulnerable to hackers, upgrading to Windows 8 would be "fairly expensive," currently costing 888 yuan (about $142 or £84). The government would also need to buy new hardware for the upgrade.

However, China will not pay Microsoft for an extended XP support, but will opt for support from third-party. Chinese security providers such as Malwarebytes, have developed their own security products to patch Windows XP, which the Chinese government is currently evaluating for use.

According to NetMarketShare, in the country with the world's biggest population, Windows XP is estimated to run on almost 70 percent of China's computers, while it's only used by 27 percent by the rest of the world. It is believed 90 percent of Windows XP usage in China come from pirated copies.

Most Chinese government agencies use genuine Microsoft software copies, however, since the 2010 internal crackdown on copyright violations. The government likewise urges state enterprises to use legitimate software.

There are speculations that the operating system used by the Chinese government to monitor its citizens is in fact Windows XP, which would explain the main reason why China hesitates to move out of the OS.

Also in China, more than 20 percent of internet users still browse the web using Internet Explorer 6, which is only used by one percent of the rest of the world.