Story highlights A report in a French newspaper leveled the accusation

The African Union chairman also dismissed the claim

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) Leaders of China and the African Union have denied a published report that Beijing spied for years on the African Union headquarters through computer systems it helped install.

Quoting anonymous sources, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reported Friday that data were transferred over five years from the African Union's Chinese-built headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to its servers in Shanghai.

A spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry said the Le Monde report was based on "groundless accusations."

"The remarks you mentioned are nonsense and groundless accusations. The African Union center was built at the AU's request with Chinese government assistance," Hua Chunying said during a reporters' briefing in Beijing.

"Our cooperation will never be disrupted by such nonsensical talk," she added.

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