BEIJING, Sept. 18 -- China on Thursday said the hacking charges in a U.S. Senate report were groundless, and urged the U.S. side to stop such "irresponsible assaults and accusations".

"The accusation is groundless and ill-founded," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei at a daily briefing, referring to the report declassified by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

The report blamed the Chinese government for backing hackers who broke into computer networks of U.S. companies, however, it did not provide any detailed evidence.

"China forbids any actions that may sabotage cyber security including hacking, and deals with such crime severely," Hong said, adding that neither the government nor armed forces will support hacking.

He urged the U.S. side to stop large-scale, systematic cyber attacks on other countries, and to do something helpful for the cyber peace and security.