China's government stops all adoptions of Chinese children to foreign adoptive parents.
The only exception concerns children or foster children adopted by relatives, according to the government's spokesperson Mao Ning.
The announcement on Thursday follows earlier decisions to reduce adoption of Chinese children introduced during the coronavirus pandemic.
Adoptions were resumed when restrictions such as travel restrictions were lifted, but only for those who received entry permits to collect adopted children before or during parts of 2020, according to information from the US Department of State.
Adoptions and irregularities involving, among other things, fabricated identity documents have led many countries to previously reduce or advise against adoptions from China.
