LONDON (Reuters) - China plans to shut the country's bitcoin exchanges by the end of September, Chinese financial news outlet Yicai said on Thursday, citing sources.

"It has been set for the end of September, the order has come from above," Yicai said, citing Shanghai financial sources, adding that the exchanges will be ordered to leave the market.

Earlier, BTCChina, one of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said it would stop all trading from Sept. 30. It said its decision was based on a Sept. 4 directive from Chinese authorities that expressed concern over investment risks involved in cryptocurrencies.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Nigel Stephenson)