BEIJING (AFP) - China's defence ministry said on Saturday that a US report on its military which accused Beijing of ramping up land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea distorted facts, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

"The US defence department's report on China's military and security development situation distorts facts and continues to play up the 'China military threat' cliché," Chinese defence ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng was quoted as saying.