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BEIJING (AFP) - China hit back Sunday at a US defence report voicing concerns about its military build-up, saying the document was "totally unjustified" and designed to mislead international opinion.

In Beijing's first official reaction, the People's Daily said the Pentagon report propagated a "China threat" theory even though China was only covering its legitimate defence needs.

"A report that misleads international opinion," denounced an opinion piece in the Communist Party mouthpiece.

"The report pays no attention to the actual state of affairs, and in a premeditated fashion exaggerates the so-called Chinese military threat," it said. "It is totally unjustified."

The Pentagon report, issued Friday, expressed concern at the deployment of long-range ballistic nuclear missiles, and a ballooning and non-transparent budget.

China's pursuit of weapons strategies "is expanding from the traditional land, air, and sea dimensions of the modern battlefield to include space and cyberspace," the report said.