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Chinese Gmail users have been unable to access their accounts since Friday after the service was apparently blocked across the country. 

Google data shows real-time traffic to its email service in China dropping significantly on 26 December - and this traffic has not yet been restored.

It is said to be the latest move by the Chinese government to crack down on outside web services, but the Foreign Ministry has denied any involvement.

Gmail users in China have been unable to access their accounts since Friday. The block is said to be a move by the government to crack down on outside web services. However, the Foreign Ministry said it wasn't involved and added it was committed to providing a good business environment for foreign investors

The block was reported by GreatFire.org - a China-based freedom of speech advocacy group - and was later confirmed by Dyn Research group, and Google's Transparency Report.

Google's report tracks and monitors ongoing disruptions to Google services around the globe.

Traffic is shown rising and falling at normal levels in the build up to Christmas, before dropping at the start of Boxing Day, and plummeting further as the day went on.

Users are still reporting problems this morning - but the exact number of affected accounts is not known.

'I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google's presence in China and even weaken its market overseas,' said a member of GreatFire.org, who used a pseudonym.

'Imagine if Gmail users might not get through to Chinese clients. 

'Many people outside China might be forced to switch away from Gmail.'

And a Singapore-based spokeman for Google said: 'We've checked and there's nothing wrong on our end.'

Almost all of Google's services have been heavily disrupted in China since June this year, but until last week Gmail users could still access emails downloaded via protocols like IMAP, SMTP and POP3. 

These had let people communicate using Gmail on apps such as the Apple built-in Mail app and Microsoft Outlook.

The latest so-called block restricts access from an IP level, which means it catches people trying to access the service on any device or app when connected to a network.  

China has a history of remaining tight control over the web, and challenging services that appear disruptive to the ruling Communist Party's leadership.

The country is host to the world's most sophisticated internet censorship mechanism, known as the Great Firewall of China.

Google's Transparency Report (pictured) shows real-time traffic to Gmail dropping significantly on 26 December. Traffic is shown rising and falling at normal levels last week, before dropping at the start of Friday. Users are still reporting problems this morning, but exact number of affected accounts is not known

The block was reported by GreatFire.org - a China-based freedom of speech advocacy group - and was later confirmed by Dyn Research group on Twitter (pictured) 

Critics say China has stepped up its disruption of foreign online services like Google over the past year to create an internet cut off from the rest of the world.

The Google disruption began in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the government's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on 4 June, 1989. 

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know anything about Gmail being blocked, adding the government was committed to providing a good business environment for foreign investors.

'China has consistently had a welcoming and supportive attitude towards foreign investors doing legitimate business here,' she said.

'We will, as always, provide an open, transparent and good environment for foreign companies in China.'

One way for companies and people to get around China's internet censorship is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which allows unhindered access to blocked sites and services.

'It's becoming harder and harder to connect and do work in China when services like Gmail are being blocked,' said Zach Smith, a Beijing-based digital products manager at City Weekend magazine.

'Using a VPN seems to be the only answer to doing anything these days online in China.'