The CBA is the top-tier league of men's professional basketball in China, and has been suspended since the outbreak of coronavirus in January. 

Organisers had been pushing to resume play by mid-April, with all teams having 16 league games still to play. 

It was suggested that the 20 teams in the league could play behind closed doors in one to two cities, under the supervision of health professionals, as reported by Sport Business. 

China's General Administration of Sport quashed this idea, however, releasing a statement which announced sports that drew crowds were not to be resumed as of yet. 

"For better epidemic prevention and control, no major sports events like marathons which gather crowds of people should resume," it said. 

Chinese Super League clubs began returning to training on March 23, just over a month after the league's originally scheduled start date of February 22.

It is not yet known when the new season will be able to begin, however.

The coronavirus pandemic began in China, with much of the country going into lockdown in January and February. 

More than 81,000 people have been infected there, with more than 3,000 fatalities, but cases are now slowing down and life there is regaining some normality. 

The United States, Italy and Spain now have more recorded cases and deaths.