China's Xiaomi defends itself from Apple copycat claims

"The first thing I think isn't, oh that was flattering," he said, adding, "I think it's really straight forward. It really is theft and it's lazy. And I don't think it's OK at all."

On Tuesday, Xiaomi's Barra said the Chinese company admired Apple's products and went as far to call the iPhone 6, "the most beautiful smartphone ever built."

"I'm a huge Apple fan, Apple is the world's design mecca," he said. But he added that the U.S. tech giant also lifts ideas from competitors, including those used in HTC products and GoogleGoogle's Android OS. Alles zu Google auf CIO.de

"I think it's fascinating that Apple took existing ideas that were very good, added their twist of innovation on top, and in many cases they actually made those ideas better," Barra said.

"So this idea of building upon great ideas and adding a twist of innovation is what they do. It's what we do," he added.