The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has voted against holding a debate on China's policies in Xinjiang.

The body voted 19-17 to reject the motion backed by mainly Western nations to discuss a report published by the previous High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

China has described the report's claims that it restricted civil and political freedoms in the region as "baseless". Beijing said Bachelet had bowed to political pressure in her assessment.

"The politicization of human rights issues and double standards are unpopular and the attempts to use the Xinjiang issue to suppress and contain China will not succeed," China's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement following the vote today.

It is only the second time in the 16-year history of the UNHRC that a motion has been defeated.