China on Friday said it was "dissatisfied and concerned" by Japanese criticisms of its land reclamation projects in the South China Sea as reported in the outline of a forthcoming defense report.

"Japan has done its utmost to smear China and create tensions in the region," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing.

The outline of the defense white paper, reported this week, described China's actions in the Spratly Islands, known as Nansha in Chinese, as "high-handed."