Tour operators are reportedly being ordered to “delete or cancel” the Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica from their list of destinations.
According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), any company found to be in contravention of the state-issued directive could be fined up to £34,000 (300,000 yuan).
The US-backed news organisation says it had spoken with employees from several travel agencies which had all received formal instructions to prevent Chinese tourists from travelling to the Vatican.
Relations between China’s ruling Communist Party and the Vatican have been strained since Chinese Catholics fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists in 1949.
And in 1950, a Catholic priest was jailed for complicity in an alleged plot to assassinate then-supreme leader Mao.
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The Asian superpower has since made it clear it would like to restore relations with the Vatican, but only if it agrees to sever links with Taiwan, which China sees as a renegade province.
The Vatican is the only European state with which Taiwan has full diplomatic relations, whereas every other EU nation recognises the island as a Chinese territory.
RFA says an employee at the Tuniu China International Travel Service said her company had received orders to remove the Vatican from its itinerary.
He said: “We used to, but we’re not offering that itinerary any more.
“Groups aren’t going there any more.
“We received a directive from the State Tourism Bureau telling us not to let people go there, so there’s nothing we can do about it.”
The Vatican covers just a quarter of a square mile, but is home to a series of world-class tourist attractions including St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.
More than five people people visit the city’s museums annually.
An official at the Guangdong provincial branch of the State Tourism Bureau told RFA the directive had been issued at the highest level of government in Beijing.
He said: ”We didn’t send this out, it was the central government.
“The Vatican, as a sovereign state under the rule of the Pope, hasn’t legally recognised us.
“This is a diplomatic issue, so only the ministry of foreign affairs or the State Tourism Bureau would have the authority to to decide this.”