Beijing hit out at Pentagon chief's reaction to China's rising defense expenditure, urging the U.S. to abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality and don't make enemies everywhere. 

The response came after U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper's speech on Saturday, alleging China's annual defense expenditure was treble the 2002 level.

In his speech, Esper also accused Moscow and Beijing of seeking "veto power" over the economic and security decisions of smaller nations. 

When asked about the reaction, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China's Foreign Ministry, said China's defense expenditure as a percentage of GDP has remained below 2 percent for the past three decades, while the data was 3.5 percent of that of the U.S. side. 

China's share of per capita defense expenditure is also at a relatively low level, which is only 1/22 that of the U.S., 1/9 that of the UK and 1/5 that of Japan, Hua emphasized. 

China will pursue a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, and believes that all countries, big or small, are equals, Hua added. 

The biggest threat to peace and stability in today's world is that unilateralism undermines the current international order and bullying challenges norms governing international relations, Hua said, stressing China's stance to oppose the big, the strong and the rich bullying the small, the weak and the poor, and oppose interference in other countries' internal affairs.