China says US is telling 'barefaced lies' in latest escalation of coronavirus blame game

United States President Donald Trump had earlier floated the idea of forcing China to pay damages for failing to prevent the global pandemic.

US President Donald Trump has suggested China should pay damages for causing the coronavirus outbreak. Source: AAP

China has accused United States politicians of "telling barefaced lies" over the coronavirus pandemic after President Donald Trump threatened to seek damages from China for the outbreak.

"They have only one objective: shirk their responsibility for their own poor epidemic prevention and control measures, and divert public attention," said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a press briefing Tuesday.

Mr Geng said US politicians should "reflect on their own problems and find ways to contain the outbreak as quickly as possible."

Beijing and Washington have clashed repeatedly over the outbreak as tensions have soared between the world's two biggest economic powers.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang accused the US of telling 'barefaced lies'. Source: AAP

"We are not happy with China," Mr Trump said at a White House briefing on Monday.

"We are not happy with that whole situation because we believe it could have been stopped at the source.

"It could have been stopped quickly and it wouldn't have spread all over the world," he said, saying there were many options to "hold them accountable".

Mr Trump was asked about a recent German newspaper editorial which called on China to pay Germany $165 billion in reparations because of economic damage due to the virus.

Asked if the US would consider doing the same, Mr Trump said "we can do something much easier than that."

"Germany is looking at things, we are looking at things," he said.

"We haven't determined the final amount yet."

There have been nearly a million infections with more than 56,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the United States and the pandemic has shut down huge swathes of the economy.

In China, the outbreak seems to be under control with no new deaths reported for 13 straight days and the toll standing at 4,633 but several countries have cast doubt over whether the numbers are accurate.

Mr Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo angered Beijing last month by repeatedly referring to "the Chinese virus" when discussing the COVID-19 outbreak - although they later appeared to drop the term.