China has said it is looking into reports about a spy balloon floating in US airspace and urged officials in Washington to remain calm as Beijing had “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country”.

“China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international laws, and China has no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.

“Speculation and hype are not conducive until the facts are clear.”

Officials from the Pentagon, the US military, and Canada confirmed spotting a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Friday morning and said its movements are being actively tracked.

Officials said the balloon has been in US air space for a few days, and the military believes with “very high confidence” the high-altitude craft is of Chinese origin.

Estimated to be of the size of three buses, the white-colour balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, and two other areas on Wednesday. It entered the US after flying over the Aleutian Islands and made its way through Canada.

Montana is home to one of the country’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Without denying the reports, the spokesperson said: “As for the balloon, as I’ve mentioned just now, we are looking into and verifying the situation and hope that both sides can handle this together calmly and carefully.”

The top official also said politicians and the public should withhold judgement “before we have a clear understanding of the facts” about the spy balloon sightings.

This comes just days before US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s planned high-level bilateral visit to China this month.

The surveillance balloon incident is likely to have landed the diplomatic meet in troubled waters but Ms Mao said that she has no information about whether the trip to China by Mr Blinken planned for this month would proceed as scheduled.

“As for Blinken’s visit to China, I have no information,” she said.

Mr Blinken would be the highest-ranking member of president Joe Biden’s administration to visit China even as ties between the two nations remain volatile over rising tensions in Taiwan, Europe, trade and human rights and China’s claims in the South China Sea.

A senior defence official told Pentagon reporters that the US has “very high confidence” this was a Chinese high-altitude balloon and was flying over sensitive sites to collect information.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

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