China has said it is “irresponsible” of President Trump to suggest it was not putting enough pressure on North Korea over its nuclear programme.
Mr Trump had tweeted that China was “not helping” because of trade tensions with the US.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said this was “contrary to basic facts” and China was “seriously concerned”.
On Thursday Mr Trump called off US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s planned trip to North Korea.
He said that insufficient progress was being made in dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
After his summit with the North Korean leader in June, Mr Trump said the country was no longer a nuclear threat.
But since then there have been several reports that it is failing to dismantle its nuclear facilities.
One of the most recent warnings came from unnamed US officials, who told the Washington Post that North Korea appeared to be building new intercontinental ballistic missiles.