The Philippines said Wednesday it had shifted production of voting machines for the 2016 presidential election from China to Taiwan due to fears that Beijing might "sabotage" the vote.

Christian Lim, a senior official at the government poll watchdog Commission on Elections (Comelec), said the agency had moved the production site to avoid the risk of China interfering with the May 9, 2016 vote, or deliberately failing to deliver the machines.

"We want to emphasise that the move to Taiwan was a product of the contract negotiations because we have received intelligence reports that there may be an attempt to sabotage the elections by China," he was quoted by television reports as telling a congressional budget hearing.

He later told TV reporters: "they could have a trade embargo. There are issues there. That means any product made in China would not be coming to the Philippines, so no (voting) machines."

"This could affect our elections. So we wanted to be extra careful. It pays to be paranoid," he said.

The watchdog's action brought a swift riposte from the Chinese embassy in Manila, which denied Beijing planned to interfere in the democratic exercise to choose President Benigno Aquino's successor.

Li Lingxiao, a Chinese Embassy spokeswoman, said "has always adhered to the principle of non-interference into other countries' internal affairs," in a statement.

"The so-called 'attempt by China' to 'sabotage' the 2016 elections is totally groundless and a sheer fabrication," it added.

The elections will also choose a new parliament, and new local officials.

The voting machine dispute is just the latest to sour Philippine-Chinese relations.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, drawing boundaries close to its neighbours' coastlines. This has put it in opposition to the Philippines and other Asian nations which also have claims on those waters.

The Philippines has been the most vocal in criticising China's actions to enforce its claim, as its giant neighbour conducts reclamations of land to turn islets in the sea into artificial islands that can host military facilities.

The Philippines has also filed a case with an international tribunal challenging China's maritime claim.