China has described a report by the American secret services on the origin of the corona virus as "lying".
The paper presented on Friday was a "mendacious report that was drawn up for political purposes," said a statement distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing on Sunday.
There was talk of a "defamatory attack" on China.
"Without providing evidence, the US invented story after story to defame and accuse China," China's Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu was quoted as saying.
The report by the American secret services on the origin of the coronavirus published on Friday did not provide any clear findings. There was therefore disagreement among the services as to whether the virus came from a laboratory or jumped from an animal to humans. Both are "plausible hypotheses". If no further information was provided, a more precise conclusion would not be possible, it said. Above all, you need the support of China for this. "However, Beijing continues to obstruct the global investigation, refuse to share information and blame other countries, including the United States," the paper said.
The American President Joe Biden tasked the American secret services in May with investigating the origin of the corona pandemic.
At the time, he instructed her to submit another report on the matter within 90 days.
For a long time, there have been unsubstantiated suspicions that the corona virus could have come from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan and may have been released in an accident.
The Chinese vehemently reject such allegations.
The corona virus first appeared in Wuhan.