China's foreign ministry said Tuesday that foreign journalists should abide by Chinese laws, when addressing the issue of not extending a visa request for a correspondent with Al Jazeera English.

"We stress that everybody must abide by Chinese laws and regulations and must abide by their professional ethics," said Hong Lei, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Associated Press reported.

Al Jazeera English said Tuesday it has closed its Beijing bureau after authorities refused to renew its correspondent's press credentials and visa.

Melissa Chan, a US citizen, has been covering China for the past five years as the sole English-language correspondent for the Qatar-based TV network.

The network said that its efforts to apply for additional visas for correspondents have been unsuccessful, according to a statement published on Al Jazeera's website.

Speaking to the Global Times over the phone Tuesday, Chan said that she is not authorized to make comments but said she is now in the US for a one-year Knight Fellowship at Stanford.

A foreign journalist who is familiar with the matter told the Global Times that Chan has been actively covering China's social issues, which ranged from  forced farmland seizure to "black jails" where petitioners are detained illegally.

These issues were also reported by other foreign as well as many Chinese media outlets.

Al Jazeera expressed its hope of reopening its Beijing bureau.

"Al Jazeera Media Network will continue to work with the Chinese authorities in order to reopen our Beijing bureau," it said in the statement.

There were 649 accredited journalists working in China as of February 2012 for 423 news organizations from 58 countries and regions, according to the foreign ministry.