Washington: US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has accused China of stealing commercial secrets and government information, saying the country is "trying to hack into everything that doesn't move in America", and urged vigilance, BBC reported on Sunday.

US officials, earlier this year, named China as the chief suspect in the massive hack of the records of a US government agency.

But China denied any involvement, and called US claims "irresponsible".

Speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire, Clinton, the former secretary of state, said China was stealing secrets from defence contractors and had taken "huge amounts of government information, all looking for an advantage".

Clinton, who is running her presidential campaigns in the US has maintained her position atop the Democratic field.

Clinton said she wanted to see China's peaceful rise but that the US needed to stay "fully vigilant".

"China's military is growing very quickly, they're establishing military installations that again threaten countries we have treaties with, like the Philippines, because they are building on contested property," she said.

US officials have blamed China for a major data breach of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that was revealed in June.

(IANS)