Yi Gang, vice president of the People's Bank of China, said for the first time that China will not acknowledge the legitimacy of bitcoin, a peer-to-peer digital currency, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Friday.

"From the perspective of the People's Bank of China, it is unlikely to acknowledge the legitimacy of bitcoin in the near future," said Yi, adding that as a virtual commodity on the Internet, people have the right to trade it freely.