China's National Immigration Administration said it will not be renewing passports for non-essential travel while the international COVID-19 epidemic situation is still severe and cross border travel poses "great security risks".
The administration said in a statement on social media it will "normally issue passports" for individuals who need to travel abroad for study, employment, or business.
But rumours it will issue passport renewals for individuals looking to travel abroad for leisure are false, the authority said.
China has tightened controls over its citizens' cross-border travel to lower the risk of the virus being brought in from overseas and spreading domestically.
It has suspended the issuance of new common passports for individuals who intend to go abroad for non-urgent matters.
Missile strikes postal depot in Ukraine's Odesa, 14 injured
Harvey Weinstein will be retried in New York after conviction overturned
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University arrested
Dozens of schools in India evacuated after email bomb threat hoax
Evacuation continues following Indonesia's Ruang volcano eruption
Teenage boy killed in London sword attack
Kenya searches for more than 90 missing after floods
Biden holds calls with leaders from Qatar, Egypt over Gaza ceasefire
