The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture made its comments after a Bieber fan asked why China was not included on the Asia leg of the singer's tour.

"Justin Bieber is a gifted singer, but he is also a controversial young foreign singer," the bureau said.

Authorities said they wanted to maintain order in the Chinese arts scene, and that a tour by the star would be inappropriate.

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"It is understood that, as a public figure, he had a series of bad behavior in his social life abroad and in the domestic performance activities he caused public dissatisfaction," the reply read.

A future favorite?

The 23-year-old, who has had a number of run-ins with police around the world, joins acts such as Oasis and Lady Gaga in being deemed too "unsuitable" to tour China. The reference to "domestic performance activities" may have alluded to Bieber's stripping to reveal his bare chest at a Beijing concert.

Despite, its censure for the singer - best known for hits like "Babe," "Sorry," and for a remix of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's megahit "Despacito" - the cultural bureau did offer a glimmer of hope to Bieber and his Chinese followers in its response to the fan query.

"We hope that as Justin Bieber matures, he can continue to improve his own words and actions, and truly become a singer beloved by the public," the reply said.

A Sorry record

As well as the Beijing concert episode, there was off-stage controversy when Bieber last played China four years ago. On that tour, with concerts in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian, he was accused of arrogance after pictures emerged of him being carried up onto the Great Wall of China by security guards.

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Bieber, who emerged onto the music scene as a clean-cut teenager, also sparked a security meltdown when he took rode a segway shirtless through the streets.

Most controversial, though, was Bieber's 2014 visit to Japan's war shrine. The pop star apologized, saying he thought the site was merely a normal place of worship.

rc/rt (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)