China's foreign minister has blasted allegations his country is carrying out genocide on Uighur Muslims as "ridiculously absurd".

Wang Yi said the allegations were "a complete lie" during an annual news conference on Monday.

The current and former US secretaries of state have described China's treatment of Uighurs as genocide, as have Canadian and Dutch parliaments. 

It's estimated more than a million Uighurs have been detained in camps widely condemned as prisons, with a slew of human rights abuses alleged to take place.

There are reports of sexual abuse, torture, and brainwashing as well as forced sterilisation. 

But China says the "training centres" offer classes on Mandarin, laws,regulations and vocational skills training; and provide counter-terrorism training and psychological counselling for those affected by "extremist thoughts".

On Monday the minister said Western politicians were choosing to believe lies about what is happening in the province of Xinjiang and said China would welcome people to visit the region.

Multiple countries have spoken out against China for its alleged human rights abuses, including New Zealand, UK and Australia.