China hits back at CIA chief's spying claims

China hit back on Thursday at CIA Director Mike Pompeo calling Beijing a "bigger threat to the U.S. than Russia."

"It shouldn't surprise us that a leader of the biggest intelligence service in the world described China like this," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a press conference in Beijing.

"We have a saying: Whatever is in your heart, you will see the world that way," she added.

Without naming names, she also said that everybody knows who carries out wide-ranging activities targeting other countries such as eavesdropping, stealing information, and infiltration.

On Tuesday, Pompeo told the BBC that China was as big a threat to the U.S. as Russia, adding that China had placed its spies in schools and hospitals.

"The Chinese [intelligence] have a much bigger footprint upon which to execute that mission than the Russians do," Pompeo said.

"We see it in our schools. We see it in our hospitals and medical systems. We see it throughout corporate America. It's also true in other parts of the world... including Europe and the U.K.," he added.