China on Thursday blasted the United States over human rights, accusing Washington of mudslinging, hypocrisy and double standards after John Kerry and the US ambassador to China voiced concerns over the issue.

At a regular briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Washington was guilty of "racial prejudice and torture and other serious violations of human rights", in an apparent reference to a scathing Senate report detailing torture of "war on terror" detainees.

The rebuke came after International Human Rights Day was marked on Wednesday.

"The United States has no right to proclaim itself a judge and wilfully make irresponsible remarks on other countries' human rights situation," Hong said.

"It is known to all that there are racial prejudice and torture and other serious violations of human rights within the United States," he added.

"The US side shuts its eyes to the basic facts and slings mud at China. This can only reveal the hypocrisy and double standards of the US on human rights issues."

Beijing and Washington regularly spar over human rights, with the US expressing concern over the detention and jailing of prominent rights activists by China's Communist authorities.

In his statement commemorating Human Rights Day, Secretary of State Kerry named jailed Chinese dissident and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo as among the political prisoners worldwide who have made "remarkable peaceful efforts" towards promoting freedom.

US ambassador to China Max Baucus went a step further, calling on China to release Liu and his wife, Liu Xia, who remains under house arrest, Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti and celebrated lawyers Pu Zhiqiang and Xu Zhiyong.

He also urged Beijing to make greater progress in upholding its commitments under the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to "engage in constructive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to reduce tension in Tibetan areas".

Baucus appeared to indirectly acknowledge the recent unrest that has swept across the United States in the wake of racially charged police shooting cases in Ferguson, Missouri, and Brooklyn, New York.

"All countries, of course, have civil liberties and human rights issues, including the United States," he said.

"Many of us have followed recent events back home, which have sparked conversations that we hope will bring about positive change."

"That dialogue is made possible by our enduring respect for freedoms of expression and assembly," he added. "We hope to see human rights progress in China."