Beijing, 12 February 2023 (dpa/MIA) - China is preparing to shoot down an unidentified flying object, according to the daily paper Global Times.

A local maritime authority said the mysterious flying object was spotted on Sunday off the coast of the city of Rizhao in Shandong province between Shanghai and Beijing.

Fishermen in the area were urged in a message to take special care of their safety.

There was no further information yet on what kind of flying object it was.

The news took over Chinese social media on Sunday, with several million users following the relevant hashtag on the online platform Weibo.

The incident comes after three flying objects were recently shot down by the US military, including a balloon from China suspected of being used for espionage purposes.

The Chinese government, on the other hand, claims that the flying object the US said was spying was a "civilian, unmanned airship" that was accidentally diverted from its original route by strong winds.