White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Monday accused China of sending low-quality and even counterfeit coronavirus antibody testing kits to the United States and of "profiteering" from the pandemic.

Navarro, who President Donald Trump has appointed to work on supply-line issues relating to the health crisis, said more testing both for the virus and antibodies was vital to getting Americans currently in lockdown back to work.

"That's where, perhaps, we can find people who are immune, that can be in the workplace in a more safe environment. But we can't have China, for example, bringing in those fake tests and counterfeit tests, because that's going to be very disruptive," Navarro told Fox and Friends.

"There's a lot of these antibody tests coming in from China now that are low quality, false readings and things like that."

He also said that China "vacuumed up the world for personal protective equipment needed by healthcare workers," in his charge that the country delayed reporting, so China can profit from the situation.

On March 31, Chinese authorities said they tightened the rules of test kits and related medical supplies export, as demand for test kits and protective clothing and equipment soared.

According to the new rule, manufacturers can no longer export their products unless they also have the relevant license to sell their products in the foreign markets.

The new rule apply to all companies seeking to export test kits, face masks, protective clothing, ventilators and infrared thermometers, according to a joint statement issued on Tuesday by the Ministry of Commerce, General Administration of Customs and the National Medical Products Administration.

The new regulations would be tightly implemented and any company caught trying to undermine or circumvent them would be punished accordingly.

Navarro also accused China of spreading the virus to the rest of the world after "they hid it for six weeks."

"They could have contained it in Wuhan," he said. "They didn't. They seeded the world with this, with hundreds of thousands of Chinese getting on aircraft to Milan, to New York and other places."

China denies the accusation.

During Monday's media briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said china is "a victim not an initiator" of misinformation, reiterating that China has been sharing all data and information in an open, transparent and responsible manner.

China always opposes the fabrication and spread of disinformation by any person or institution, and it also actively engaging in international cooperation to fight COVID-19 and providing assistance within its capacity to other countries, Geng said.

He said China was the first country to report the novel coronavirus outbreak, but it doesn't mean China was the origin of the virus. Finding the origin of the virus is a matter of science, and that should not been politicized, he added.

There are questions about the U.S. government's handling of the virus, and China hopes the U.S. can respond "timely" to the concerns of the American people and international society, Geng continued.

"The WHO may also be invited to help review this process," he added.

(Cover: A swab to be used for testing novel coronavirus is seen in the supplies of Harborview Medical Center's home assessment team during preparations to visit the home of a person potentially exposed to novel coronavirus at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, U.S. February 29, 2020. /Reuters)