Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Interpol says it does not comment on specific cases

China says Interpol has issued a notice for the arrest of a billionaire who has criticised the government in Beijing.

Property tycoon Guo Wengui is currently thought to be in the US.

Authorities did not give a reason for the notice, but state media outlets have claimed that Mr Guo bribed a vice-minister, which he has denied.

Mr Guo has recently made allegations regarding top Chinese officials and their families' businesses in interviews with overseas media.

Politically motivated?

On Wednesday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Interpol had issued a "red notice" for Mr Guo, which seeks the arrest of a wanted person globally.

Asked about Mr Guo, Interpol said it did not "comment on specific cases or individuals except in special circumstances and with approval of the member country concerned".

Chinese news outlets said Mr Guo bribed the former vice-minister of state security, Ma Jian, with 60m yuan (£6.8m, $8.7m). Mr Ma has since been arrested and is being prosecuted for corruption.

But Mr Guo has denied such allegations and suggested that the notice for his arrest was politically motivated.

The tycoon, who says he is no longer a Chinese citizen, said in a tweet (in Chinese) on Wednesday that the move was initiated by "corrupt officials who are terrified that their criminal behaviour would be unmasked by me".

Mr Guo has recently given interviews to foreign Chinese-language media outlets, including Voice of America, making allegations regarding certain Chinese officials and their families who control business empires.

VOA said its journalists had been approached earlier by Chinese officials asking them to cancel their interview. The live broadcast on Wednesday was cut short, which VOA said was due to a "miscommunication".

The South China Morning Post noted that Mr Guo's interviews have coincided with what it called an "international publicity war" launched by China against him.