With that in mind, manager Alan Pardew has decided to keep Zheng in SE7, so that he does not miss the key trip to Wolves, as well as home games against Plymouth and QPR.
"I apologise to the Chinese federation that they will be without ZiZi for these qualifiers, but I have made the decision to keep him here," explained Alan Pardew.
"If he were to travel, he would miss our games against Wolves, Plymouth and QPR because the fixtures fall outside of the international window.
"I know ZiZi is an important player for his country, but he is also important for us, and I am sure that China will be able to get the results they need from the two games without him."