China denies vice-premier has died

BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) The Chinese government today denied media reports that Vice Premier Huang Ju, one of the nine most powerful men in the Communist Party hierarchy, had died.

Earlier, Hong Kong's Phoenix Television -- citing unidentified sources -- reported that Huang, 68, had died after a battle with cancer.

''It is our understanding that news regarding comrade Huang Ju's death is totally unfounded,'' an official with the cabinet spokesman's office said by telephone.

State television and radio made no mention of Huang's condition, despite months of speculation over his health and recent widespread rumours that he was in critical condition.

Huang is ranked sixth in the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the all-powerful group of nine that rules China, where he has been responsible for the key economic and financial portfolios.

Phoenix reported the news in an on-screen ticker and said it had no further updates. The network later said its earlier report was a ''rumour'', and an announcer later apologised on the air. The speculation over Huang's condition comes ahead of a critical Communist Party congress, a five-yearly meeting that will see key personnel changes.

That meeting, expected between September and November, is likely to tap a younger generation of leaders to take the helm once President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao retire.

Hu is still consolidating power four years after taking the top job.

An engineer by training, Huang emerged from the Shanghai powerbase of former leader Jiang Zemin, becoming mayor of the financial capital in 1991 and Communist Party boss there in 1994.

Huang was educated at the elite Tsinghua University in Beijing, and spent more than four decades as a party member.

A native of the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, Huang was promoted in 2002 to the Politburo Standing Committee.

REUTERS SKB PM1759