Jane Birkin cancels Shanghai gig after being denied visa

British actress and singer Jane Birkin has cancelled a planned concert in Shanghai next week after failing to obtain a Chinese visa, her entourage said Friday.

China denied the visa because of Birkin's "commitment to fighting human rights abuses", an associate said, noting that the French-based singer is a member of Amnesty International and the International Human Rights Federation.

The authorities "gave no explanation... but there is no other reason" for denying the visa, the source told AFP, adding that other members of Birkin's troupe had been given visas.

The Chinese embassy in Paris did not respond to requests for comment.

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was to have accompanied Birkin at the July 9 concert, part of her "Gainsbourg Symphonic" tour which kicked off in Montreal early last month to mark 25 years since the death of iconic French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.

Birkin, 69, is perhaps best known as the muse of Gainsbourg, who penned some of the songs that catapulted her to fame.