China's cyber regulator has dismissed rumors of an impending VPN ban in the country as false.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released a statement asserting that it will not block legitimate access to the global Internet by companies and individual users. 

The announcement was in response to widely circulated reports that Chinese authorities had ordered three state-run telecommunications firms to forbid individuals from using virtual private networks by February 1st of next year. 

The ministry refers to the new rules issued in January of this year aimed at preventing domestic telecom companies from setting up special lines without prior government approval. The ministry also noted that it is still reviewing the regulations.