Zhang Youxia, the first-ranked chairman of China's Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the Xiangshan Forum, a gathering of military and diplomatic officials billed as Beijing's answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

The audience included Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who addressed the conference after Zhang.

China is holding the forum without a sitting defence chief, having abruptly announced the sacking of minister Li Shangfu last week without explanation.

Zhang did not name the nations "creating turmoil" in his opening address, but Beijing has kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism for the positions of the United States on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

"As we look across the world today, hotspot issues are arising one after another. The pain of war, chaos and turmoil, and loss of life are constantly playing out," Zhang said.

"However, some countries, for fear that the world may stabilise, deliberately create turmoil, interfere in regional issues, interfere in other countries' internal affairs, and instigate color revolutions," he said.

"For the sake of their own selfish interests, they bury nails everywhere. They create many artificial geopolitical conflicts, then preach impartiality while actually favouring one side, making regional situations complex and intractable," he added.

"Behind the scenes, they hand out knives and think nothing of provoking people into wars, ensuring that they're the ones who benefit from the chaos."