China says ex-president death reports 'pure rumour'

The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted "authoritative sources" in its report quashing the rumours but gave no other immediate details.

Speculation the 84-year-old was seriously ill emerged on Friday when he failed to appear at celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party.

His absence was conspicuous as many other retired party and national leaders -- including former prime ministers Li Peng and Zhu Rongji -- were present at the gala at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

On Wednesday, searches for his name and other terms such as "myocardial infarction" and "condolences" on the popular Twitter-like Weibo service were blocked, in an indication censors were stopping information from leaking out.