Beijing: China is not interested in a space race and urges the US to stop baseless speculation around this topic, the Chinese Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Friday.

Earlier this week, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that Russia cannot land astronauts on the Moon in the time frame that the United States and China are capable of, which means that only Washington and Beijing are participating in a new space race.

"China is not interested in participating in a space race with any country, and strongly opposes the weaponization of space and turning it into a battlefield, as well as an arms race in space," the ministry said, adding that "China urges the US to stop baseless speculation and irresponsible behavior."

The US says that it seeks to protect interests of the whole world, but, in fact, Washington seizes space resources for its personal gain, the ministry added.