China has issued a travel advisory urging its citizens not to travel to the Philippines following reports of the abduction of a Chinese teenager who worked in a family-run store in Zamboanga and threats made by criminal groups  to bomb the Chinese Embassy, Chinese companies, and public venues such as malls.

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""Given that the safety situation in the Philippines is deteriorating, the consular service of the foreign ministry is asking Chinese nationals not to travel to the Philippines for the time being," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Li Peizhi, 18 years old, was seized by armed men in Zamboanga Sibugay late Thursday, Philippine police reported. The gunmen also took P20,000 pesos ($A402) from the store's cash register.

Reports said police officers who were in pursuit of the kidnappers found the latter's vehicle burning near a village some two kilometers away.

Police said the kidnapping may have been the handiwork of the terror group, Abu Sayyaf, although no ransom demand has yet been made by the kidnappers.

The town mayor said, the Abu Sayyaf militants who kidnapped Australian national Richard Rodwell in 2011, may have been involved in the abduction of the Chinese teenager although no ransom demand has yet been made. Rodwell was released after his family paid the ransom.

Last September 1, Philippine government agents arrested three men at the airport in Manila. Police seized four glass bottles filled with gas and a gun in their car. The men confessed that they planned to "ignite"shopping malls, Chinese companies and also the Chinese Embassy.

The military said that the three men who made the bomb threats were mere "pranksters" and were not members of known terrorists in the country.

The travel warning came on the heels of hostile relationship between the two countries as Beijing and Manila fight it out over claims over the same territories in the South China Sea.

Tagsransom, Abu Sayyaf, travel advisory