China's government today took the rare step of denying that one of its most senior members had died.

Sources at the 301 military hospital in Beijing had indicated to The Times that Huang Ju, China’s vice premier in charge of economic reform, the sixth most powerful official on China's ruling Politburo Standing Committee, died this morning at the age of 69 after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.

The reports were circulated by the Hong Kong media and reported by all major international news agencies.

Television stations which had been reporting the death were however forced to issue a hasty retraction after China’s State Council, or cabinet, dismissed the news.

The State Council said: “It is our understanding that news regarding comrade Huang Ju’s death is totally unfounded.”

Sources at the hospital voiced surprise at the denial.

It is not disputed that Mr Huang has been undergoing treatment for cancer at the 301 hospital in western Beijing, where most Chinese top leaders undergo treatment and where paramount leader Deng Xiaoping died in February 1997

The death of the vice premier in charge of the economy, if confirmed, would open the way for President Hu Jintao to appoint an ally to fill his seat on the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.

Rumours have swirled for months that Mr Huang was seriously ill, but his failure to appear at the funeral of Bo Yibo, last surviving leader of the Mao Tse-tung generation of leaders, in January, was the clearest sign that Mr Huang was having difficulty carrying out his official functions. He appeared briefly at the annual session of the National People’s Congress, or parliament, in March when he voiced his support for President Hu. He did not attend the closing session.

The engineering graduate of Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University has spent most of his career in Shanghai, where he was a protégé and close ally of the former president and Communist Party leader, Jiang Zemin. His close ties to Mr Jiang have given him a reputation as a member of Mr Jiang’s “Shanghai clique” in the top echelons of the party. President Hu has been gradually trying to build his own powerbase since he came to power in 2002 by replacing Mr Jiang’s men.

The death of Mr Huang would provide the president with an important opportunity to move one of his own loyalists onto the Politburo Standing Committee – a group of nine men who wield ultimate power in China. Mr Huang became a standing committee member in 2002 and is one of four vice premiers of China.