A woman holds a video conference from home. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Zoom has blocked individual users in the Chinese mainland from registering for free accounts over "security and compliance" reasons, a source close to the company told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The comments came after media reported that the California-based videoconferencing software company had suspended individual users from China from registering for free account, and that only those with business certificates could purchase its services.

An unnamed employee of Zoom's agent in China confirmed the reports with the Global Times on Tuesday, adding that since May 1, Zoom users in the Chinese mainland have been required to provide business certificates and proof of corporate banking accounts to obtain an account.

"This is for the sake of security and compliance," she said, without revealing further details.

A customer service representative of Huawan, Zoom's authorized distributor in China, also confirmed on Tuesday that the company has stopped accepting registrations from individual users for "unknown reasons".

Founded by Chinese-born engineer Eric Yuan in 2011, Zoom has been constantly targeted by the US governments this year.

A report from the Citizen Lab of the Toronto University in April suggested that as Zoom primarily caters to North American clients, its occasional distribution of encryption keys through servers in China is "worrying" given that the company may be legally obligated to disclose these keys to authorities in China.

Zoom did not respond to the Global Times' request for comment.