A Chinese government housing vice minister has lodged a $10 million defamation lawsuit against controversial billionaire Guo Wengui in New York over claims made by the exiled tycoon that she had engaged in corruption and provided sexual favors.

Huang Yan, vice minister of housing and urban-rural development, filed the complaint with the New York State Supreme Court on Wednesday, saying Guo's "false and outrageous" claims, made in a video published on YouTube in May, had caused her "severe emotional distress" and "mental anguish."

A copy of the filing was obtained by Reuters.