President Joe Biden's reiteration that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is "a dictator" has been rebuked by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.

The two leaders spoke for about four hours in a highly anticipated meeting, their first in a year, in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, or APEC. Biden and Xi agreed to restart military-to-military communications, which Beijing cut off more than a year ago in protest of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, and also came together on a deal to work together to curb the spread of deadly fentanyl.

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"Look, he is," Biden said during his post-meeting press conference, when asked if he considers Xi to be a dictator. "He's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different than ours."

The comment, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, was both "extremely wrong" and "irresponsible."

"This statement is extremely wrong and irresponsible political manipulation," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Thursday, according to Reuters. "It should be pointed out that there will always be some people with ulterior motives who attempt to incite and damage U.S.-China relations, they are doomed to fail."

Biden made a similar remark in June, which Mao also denounced at the time, calling it "extremely absurd."

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The United States president's remarks, even as the two sides agreed to improve their relations and work together on mutually beneficial topics, demonstrate the complexities of the two countries' relationship. The U.S. Department of Defense views Beijing as its "pacing challenge" and singles out the Chinese military, known as the People's Liberation Army, as the only power that has the intent and capability to reshape the international order in their favor.

The Chinese military continues to both modernize and build out its nuclear arsenal, while in the region, it has carried out hundreds of unsafe and reckless intercepts of U.S. or Western aircraft or naval vessels in the region. Without the military communication channels available, though Xi agreed to restart them during Wednesday's meeting, it makes the possibility of an incident and unintended escalation more likely.