File Photo: VCG

Chinese media outlets have refuted a rumor claiming that Xu Jiayin, chairman of cash-strapped Chinese property giant China Evergrande Group, had committed suicide by jumping off a building.

Sources reached by the Global Times also said the rumor is false.

Multiple domestic news portals including the National Business Daily reported on Friday that there was a rumor that Xu had jumped from a building in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province. But the rumor is false, they said, citing company sources.

The reports also said Xu had communicated with his executives in voice messages about work and production resumption on Friday afternoon.

The rumor about Xu came amid media reports that the company is axing jobs and stalling salary payments at its car-making business.

The Global Times also learned the rumor was false from an Evergrande employee in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province where the property developer is headquartered. "Xu is in Guangzhou now, and today he will hand out fruit gifts to senior executives," the employee said.

A former employee of Evergrande told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that Xu has been staying in Guangzhou for quite a while, so the rumor saying he was in Changsha is "obviously groundless."

Later on Friday, domestic financial news portal 21jingji.com reported that Xu attended a meeting on Friday evening to have talks with company executives about efforts to ensure the delivery of real estate projects.

The report had a photo of Xu chairing the meeting, though the date of the photo cannot be confirmed.

Previously, an Evergrande executive said the group would do all it could to support its new-energy car and property service businesses, while making efforts to pursue efficient disposal of the group's assets to maintain liquidity, according to 21jingji.com.

The company has just sold land reserved to build its Shenzhen headquarters in a 7.5 billion yuan ($1.07 billion) deal, according to a stock exchange filing on Monday.

The Weibo account of the public security bureau in Yuexiu district in Guangzhou apologized on Friday for any public disturbance due to a post it "mistakenly" sent, which contains Xu Jiayin's name and nothing else. The post has been deleted.