Joe Biden has called China a “ticking time bomb in many cases” because of its economic challenges, saying the country was in trouble because of weak growth, writes The Guardian.

The US president pointed to the country’s high unemployment and ageing workforce, saying: “China is in trouble”.

“They have got some problems. That’s not good, because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things”, Biden said at a political fundraiser in Utah on Thursday. He said he did not want to hurt China and wanted a rational relationship with the country.

Biden’s remarks were reminiscent of comments he made at another fundraiser in June when he referred to President Xi Jinping as a “dictator”. China called the remarks a “political provocation”.