US responsible for current deterioration in bilateral relationship, says China

China's decision to close the United States Consulate General in Chengdu is a legitimate and necessary countermeasure and the USis responsible for the current deterioration of China-USrelations, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.

China blasted the Houston move and blamed Washington for the sharp deterioration in relations.

Closing the Chengdu consulate was a "legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States", the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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"The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this," it said.

Wang made the statement at a media briefing in Beijing commenting on the decision made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the USConsulate General in Chengdu. He alsopointed out that the measure taken by China is reciprocal to the USmove.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters that some US staff in the Chengdu consulate, near Tibet, "were engaged in activities outside of their capacity, interfered in China's internal affairs, and endangered China's security and interests."

The Chengdu mission was also where senior Chinese official Wang Lijun fled in 2012 from his powerful boss Bo Xilai, who was then head of the nearby metropolis Chongqing, and has since been jailed for life for corruption.

US-China relations deteriorated in a Cold War-style standoff Friday as Beijing ordered a US consulate to shut in retaliation for the closure of its Houston mission accused of being a hub for espionage and intellectual property theft.

Washington officials said the level of unacceptable efforts to steal US corporate secrets and proprietary medical and scientific research from the Houston mission had grown too large to ignore.