"China's position on China-US economic and trade relations has been made very clear," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

"It is surprising and sad to hear such ignorant and impolite words from this vice president," he added.

US President Donald Trump has upended the world economy with sweeping tariffs that have raised the spectre of an international recession, but has ruled out any pause in his aggressive trade policy despite a dramatic market sell-off.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Vance defended those tariffs as an antidote to a "globalist economy" he said had not worked for ordinary Americans.

"We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture," the vice president said.

"That is not a recipe for economic prosperity. It's not a recipe for low prices, and it's not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America," he said.

Trump believes the tariffs will revive America's lost manufacturing base by forcing foreign companies to relocate to the United States, rather than making goods abroad.

But most economists question that and say his tariffs are arbitrary.