Travel agencies and online booking platforms are banned from providing cross-province tour services to China’s land port cities, starting from Friday, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced.

Bookings for flight tickets and hotel combos in those cities are also forbidden, but in cities connected to Hong Kong and Macao it will be allowed, read the statement issued by the ministry on Friday.

The policy will be effective till March 15, 2022.

“Any provinces or cities defined as medium- and high-risk virus areas must suspend cross-province tours immediately,” the ministry ordered.

The policy came out after several port cities in China suffered virus outbreaks in recent days.

Manzhouli, a land port city in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has reported 547 confirmed COVID-19 cases during the latest outbreak.

Ruili, a China-Myanmar border city in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, has also seen epidemic flare-ups.

As New Year’s Day and Chinese New Year are approaching, the ministry asked travel agencies and online booking platforms to follow epidemic prevention rules strictly and carefully and to realize the importance of such work.