China slams Trump's 'irresponsible' accusations over N Korea

China on Saturday denounced Donald Trump's accusation that Beijing is stalling efforts to disarm North Korea as "irresponsible", after the US president said an upcoming trip to Pyongyang by his top envoy had been cancelled due to lack of progress on the issue.

"The US statement is contrary to basic facts and is irresponsible. We are seriously concerned about this," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.

Trump said on Friday that "because of our much tougher trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearisation as they once were", despite UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed regime.