China Sunday rejected the US State Department's annual report on religious freedom, expressing "strong displeasure" at and "resolute objection" to it.

The report said that China tried to restrict religious practice to State-sanctioned groups while others suffered varying degrees of "interference and harassment".

The criticism of China's religious policies and freedom situation in the report defied facts and was "extremely unfair and absolutely unreasonable", Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said while commenting on the International Religious Freedom Report 2003.

China has been protecting its citizens' religious rights in accordance with the law, Liu said, adding that all ethnic groups and people from all over the country enjoy religious freedom.

However, the Chinese Government bans, in line with the law, illegal or criminal activities conducted by such organizations or individuals as the Falun Gong cult in the name of religion, the spokesman said.

All efforts have been made to safeguard and ensure the religious freedom of all citizens, winning widespread support from the broad masses.

Liu urged the US side to take better care of its own domestic religious freedom instead of always criticizing others; and make more efforts conducive to mutual understanding and co-operation between China and the United States instead of interfering in another country's internal affairs under the guise of religious concern.

The US report also sharply criticized such allies as Saudi Arabia and Egypt and adversaries like North Korea and Iran, both branded part of an "axis of evil" along with pre-war Iraq.

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