The Chinese government has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to label Beijing a strategic rival and called on Washington to "abandon a Cold War mentality" and accept China's rise.

Trump's decision reflects a "victory of hardliners" in his administration, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It warned U.S.-Chinese economic relations were likely to face "even more pressure and challenges."

"We urge the United States to stop deliberately distorting China's strategic intentions and abandon a Cold War mentality," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying. "Otherwise it will injure others and damage itself."

Trump's report Monday hit a series of sore spots for Beijing.

It affirmed ties with Taiwan, the self-ruled island the mainland government claims as its territory, and pledged to "re-energize our alliances" with Southeast Asian governments, some of which have conflicts with China over claims to portions of the South China Sea.

The United States and China share one of the world's biggest trading relationships and cooperate in areas from clean energy to public health.

But Beijing sees Washington as an obstacle to its ambitions to be East Asia's dominant power, and strains over Taiwan, trade, technology policy and the South China Sea are growing.

"It is selfish to put your national interest above other countries' interest and the mutual interest of the international community," said the Chinese Embassy in Washington in a statement.

U.S. officials are uneasy about Beijing's rising military spending — already the second-highest behind Washington.

They see President Xi Jinping's "Belt and Road Initiative," a project to build railways and other infrastructure across countries from Asia to Europe and Africa, as part of efforts to erode American influence and nurture a China-centered political structure.