China yesterday hit back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his claims that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, saying he "doesn't have any" evidence.

Washington and Beijing have clashed repeatedly over the virus, which emerged in China late last year but has since spiralled into a global pandemic.

Conspiracy theories that the virus came from a maximum-security virology lab in Wuhan have swirled since earlier this year, but were brought into the mainstream last month by US government officials.

Pompeo said on Sunday that there was "enormous evidence" to show that the virus originated in a Chinese lab.

"I think this matter should be handed to scientists and medical professionals, and not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a regular press briefing.

"Mr Pompeo repeatedly spoke up but he cannot present any evidence. How can he? Because he doesn't have any," she said.

Most scientists believe the new virus jumped from animals to humans, with suspicion around a market in Wuhan that sold wildlife for meat.

The World Health Organization has said US claims about the origin of the virus were "speculative". The top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has echoed the WHO's statement, telling National Geographic that all evidence so far "strongly indicates" a natural origin.