Over the weekend, Chinese state-affiliated media reported that an unidentified flying object had been spotted off the country's east coast -- and that the military was preparing to shoot it down.
Beijing on Monday declined to comment on that report, only referring journalists to the defense ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment from AFP.
But it did accuse the United States of sending more than 10 balloons into its airspace since January 2022.
"It's not uncommon as well for the US to illegally enter the airspace of other countries," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said during a briefing.
"Since last year alone, US balloons have illegally flown above China more than 10 times without any approval from Chinese authorities."
Asked how China responded to those alleged incursions, Wang said Beijing's "handling (of these incidents) was responsible and professional".
"If you want to know more about US high-altitude balloons illegally entering China's airspace, I suggest you refer to the US side," he added.
The White House on Monday denied Beijing's accusation that the United States has been sending balloons over China to conduct surveillance, as tensions about espionage rise between the two superpowers.
"Any claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Twitter, adding that it is the People's Republic of China "that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection."
The accusation came after U.S. military fighter jets on Sunday shot down an octagonal object over Lake Huron, the Pentagon said, the latest incident since a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon put North American security forces on high alert.
It was the fourth flying object to be shot down over North America by a U.S. missile in a little more than a week. China's foreign ministry said it had no information on the latest three flying objects shot down by the United States.
AFP has contacted the US State Department and the Pentagon for comment on Beijing's allegations, but has yet to receive a response.
This report uses data from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.