Beijing, Nov 9 (PTI) China on Monday said it has no information on reports of an Indian ship with a 23-member crew carrying Australian coal stranded off China's coast for the past five months waiting for permission to off load its cargo.

Asked about reports of an Indian ship stuck close to a port near Tangshan in China's Hebei province since June and if the reason has anything to do with the bad relations between China and Australia, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he had no information about it.

Also Read | Madam Tussauds London Redresses Donald Trump’s Wax Statue in a Golfing Attire; Calls It His ‘Potential 2021 Wardrobe’.

“I don't know the specific situation you mentioned. I suggest you check with the relevant competent authority or local government,” Wenbin said during a media briefing here.

According to media reports, an Indian ship named ‘Jag Anand' has been stuck at China's Jingtang port since June with the crew members seeking immediate help.

Also Read | Pfizer Says COVID-19 Vaccine 90% Effective in Phase 3 Trial, Likely to File for Emergency Use by November-End.

Relations between Australia and China in the past few months nose-dived after Australia barred Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies from its national 5G network over national security concerns.

China also resented Canberra's push for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus in April.

Reports from Australia say China has been restricting a number Australian exports, including coal.

Apart from this, China appears to be irked by a law Australia passed in 2018 that banned covert foreign interference in domestic politics and made industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime.

The laws offended the nation's most important trading partner, China.

Recently, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled Global Times reported that China had asked traders to stop buying at least seven categories of Australian products: coal, barley, copper ore and concentrate, sugar, timber, wine and lobsters.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)