Dalian Shide Group Co announced over the weekend that the privately owned group is suing a media company over a recently published "untrue report" about Shide's business.

For a second time this month, Shide Group, the country's biggest supplier of building materials, refuted media reports on the group's bankruptcy proceedings, saying that the reports are "sedulously distorted", and some media even "stole the company's confidential materials, added some false stories, and published their so-called facts about Shide."

Such media behavior has seriously threatened the company's fundamental interest and stability, it said.

"Regarding some media's untrue reports and illegal behavior of stealing our company's confidential materials, Shide Group will defend its legal rights by filing lawsuits or reporting the cases to security authorities," reads a statement of the group, based in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, noting that the group is suing a media company over its reports, without revealing the media's name.

However, a local source close to the group's business who did not want to be named told the Global Times yesterday that Shide's business situation is "getting very complicated", and the group is "facing an uncertain future" given its large amount of outstanding debts.

According to data obtained by the Global Times, Shide has borrowed large amounts of loans that are due for repayment soon, including a short-term loan worth 420 million yuan ($66.6 million) due on May 28, and about 800 million yuan lent by Dalian Bank due on September 15.

 The Economic Observer newspaper reported Saturday that the Chongqing municipal government started in late March to review the so-called Build-Transfer (BT) projects invested by the city's local government financing vehicles and other companies. One of Shide's subsidiaries is involved in a BT project with an investment of 159 million yuan, and may be at the risk of debt default.

Earlier this month, some media reports speculated that the group may face funding problems following its chairman's disappearance.

The conglomerate, which has a diversified business portfolio ranging from chemical engineering and financial services to real estate, confirmed on March 31 that its chairman Xu Ming has been missing and the group can not get in touch with Xu.

On April 14, financial magazine Caixin reported that Shide began the first phase preparation for bankruptcy proceedings through a domestic law firm, after Xu went missing.

However, the company last Monday refuted the report, saying that it is "pure rumor", and the company's "businesses are running steadily."

Caijing magazine reported Friday that so far, the group has borrowed loans of up to nearly 12 billion yuan.