China said on Monday that it has not received any application for asylum from former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

The comments from Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun were in response to a question on whether Beijing had rejected Duterte's application.

"I would like to point out specifically that Mr. Duterte's visit to Hong Kong was a private vacation," said Guo. "China has never received a so-called application for asylum from the former (Philippine) President (Rodrigo) Duterte and his family to the Chinese government."

Duterte was arrested on March 11 at Manila's main airport on his arrival from Hong Kong at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of its probe into his "war on drugs" that defined his presidency.

Duterte's trip to Hong Kong was "a private vacation," Guo said at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Monday.

Last Friday, Malacañang said it did not have any information regarding claims that the former president sought asylum from China prior to his arrest.

READ: Palace says 'no info' on Duterte's 'rejected' asylum bid in China prior to ICC arrest

Several social media users have speculated that Duterte sought refuge from China but was rejected, which forced him to go back to the Philippines where he was eventually arrested.

"Wala po kaming ganoong impormasyon na natanggap. Hindi po iyon ang mga lumalabas na info na dumarating sa Palasyo," Palace Press Secretary Claire Castro said in a televised briefing.

Vice President Sara Duterte had also denied that her father applied for asylum in China.

Duterte, who is at the ICC detention center in The Hague, believes he has no case to answer at the court, according to the vice president.

"He's very confident about the legal arguments. He's very confident... that what they did was wrong and there is no case to begin with," the younger Duterte told reporters on Sunday.

(Production: Wang Shubing, Josh D. Arslan)