China rejected Mike Pence's charge that Beijing was meddling in American elections as "unwarranted" and "ridiculous".

The US vice-president accused China of orchestrating a military, economic and political campaign to undermine Donald Trump’s administration and bolster Chinese influence in America and worldwide.

“China has initiated an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 [midterm congressional] elections, and the environment leading into the 2020 presidential elections,” Mr Pence said on Thursday.

“To put it bluntly, President Trump’s leadership is working, and China wants a different American president.”

The comments, made during a highly anticipated speech in Washington, came after Mr Trump used his platform at the United Nations General Assembly last week to allege that China was trying to interfere in November’s midterm elections. Neither the president nor his deputy have provided hard evidence of meddling.

Hua Chunying, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Friday that Mr Pence had "slandered" China.

"This is nothing but speaking on hearsay evidence, confusing right and wrong and creating something out of thin air. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to it," she said.

"It is very ridiculous for the US side to stigmatise its normal exchanges and cooperation with China as China interfering in its internal affairs and elections," Hua said.