A boy looks up as he walks past the closed coffee shop owned by Canadian couple Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt in Dandong, Liaoning province, August 5, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

A Canadian man has been formally detained on suspicion of stealing and prying into State secrets by the State Security Bureau of Dandong, Northeast China's Liaoning province, while his wife was released on bail, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Thursday.

The authorities are dealing with the case in accordance with the law, and legal rights and interests of Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt, both from Canada, have been maintained, Hong said at a daily press briefing .

The case is under investigation, he added.

Kevin and Julia Garratt , who ran a coffee shop on the Chinese border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, were first detained on Aug 4, 2014 on suspicion of engaging in activities that endanger China's national security.