Lawyers for Chinese premier's family dispute New York Times article which said they have accumulated wealth of $2.7bn

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Lawyers for Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's family have denied reports of their "hidden riches" saying they are untrue, according to Hong Kong media.

The New York Times said on Friday that relatives of the premier had controlled assets worth at least $2.7bn, citing detailed analysis of corporate and regulatory records.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the story "blackens China's name and has ulterior motives". Authorities also blocked the media organisation's Chinese language and main websites and banned microblog searches for its name and a wide variety of terms related to the article.

But it is unusual for the family of a senior leader to comment publicly on foreign media reports about them. When Bloomberg ran an article this summer on the wealth of relatives of Xi Jinping, vice president and heir-apparent to the presidency, there was no public response from the family.

The statement, issued by lawyers from two Chinese firms late on Saturday night and obtained by Hong Kong television, the South China Morning Post and Sing Tao newspaper, said they had been "entrusted by the family members of Wen Jiabao" but did not specify which relatives they represent.

Telephone calls to the two law firms, Grandall and Jun He law, rang unanswered on Sunday.

The statement said: "The so-called 'hidden riches' of Wen Jiabao's family members in the New York Times' report does not exist.

"Some of Wen Jiabao's family members have not engaged in business activities. Some were engaged in business activities, but they did not carry out any illegal business activity. They do not hold shares of any companies."

It said that Wen's mother had never had any income or property beyond her salary and pension.

The statement added: "Wen Jiabao has never played any role in the business activities of his family members, still less has he allowed his family members' business activities to have any influence on his formulation and execution of policies."

The New York Times article did not suggest that Wen himself held assets, nor allege wrongdoing.

The report said that in many cases the names of family members were "hidden behind layers of partnerships and investment vehicles involving friends, work colleagues and business partners".

It added that several relatives held shares via an investment vehicle run by a wealthy businesswoman who told the media organisation that the assets were actually her own. She had not wanted publicity so asked relatives to find other people to register the shares in their names on her behalf; they had "by accident" chosen the premier's relatives.

The lawyers' statement added: "Other relatives of Wen Jiabao and the 'friends' and 'colleagues' of those relatives are responsible for all their own business activities.

"We will continue to make clarifications regarding untrue reports by the New York Times, and reserve the right to hold it legally responsible."

Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the New York Times, wrote in an email published by the media organisation itself: "We are standing by our story, which we are incredibly proud of and which is an example of the quality investigative journalism The Times is known for."