Australia warned its citizens that they could be "arbitrarily detained" if they arrived in China, amid tensions between the two countries.

"The Chinese government has arrested foreigners on the pretext of 'endangering national security'. Australians may also face the risk of arbitrary arrest," the Australian Foreign Ministry's statement said today.

Earlier, Australia also warned citizens to avoid all trips abroad due to concerns about Covid-19.

In response, China's Foreign Ministry said foreigners in the country "had absolutely nothing to worry about, as long as they obeyed the law".

Tensions between Australia and its biggest trading partner have increased in recent months, stemming from Canberra's vanguard call for an independent international investigation of Covid-19, which has angered Beijing.

China then took actions that were supposed to be retaliated, such as stopping importing meat from four large Australian abattoirs, imposing tariffs on more than 80% of barley imported from the country.

China last year arrested Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian writer, and instituted a prosecution earlier this year on charges of espionage.