A US Defense Department analyst has pleaded guilty to delivering classified information to a Louisiana businessman working for China.

Gregg Bergersen, a weapons analyst at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency who held top secret security clearances, was arrested last month.

Prosecutors in Virginia alleged he divulged military secrets to a New Orleans furniture salesman, Tai Kuo, who turned over the information to the Chinese government.

Bergersen pleaded guilty Monday to a single count of conspiring to communicate national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it.

He faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced on June 20.

The Chinese government has called the espionage accusations groundless and accused the US of 'Cold War thinking'.

AGB/DT