China lambasted Malaysian officials for their "intolerable" handling of vital information, saying that they did not share immediately and fully whatever information they had on the missing Malaysian jetliner.

China's official news agency Xinhua said the delay in information sharing caused extreme anguish among the families of the passengers. 

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It also wasted a lot of time and effort that could have been directed to immediate actions in finding the plane, the state media said.

In its commentary, Xinhua accused the Malaysian authorities of "dereliction of duty" and vowed to go after the Malaysian government which, it said, "bears inescapable responsibility" as lead of the search teams.

The news agency said that although the new information was valuable, Malaysian authorities waited for more than seven "excruciating days" to release it.

China also criticized the United States for failing to release information quickly.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Saturday said that based on satellite data, the missing jetliner flew off course and stayed airborne for six hours after disappearing from radar screens.

Razak also said the shutdown of the two communication systems were "deliberate" and that the plane was deliberately diverted from its original path.

The information was the first clear statement of the Malaysian authorities after more than a week of investigation and search efforts.

As to the delay China said, "Massive efforts have been squandered, and numerous rumors have been spawned, repeatedly racking the nerves of the awaiting families."

"Given today's technology," it continued, "the delay smacks of either dereliction of duty or reluctance to share information in a full and timely manner."

As leader of the search team, Malaysia should have done a better job, Xinhua pointed out.