In spite all the denials that China's leader Jiang Zemin is still alive, rumours that he had died of a lingering illness persist.State-run Xinhua News issued a statement denying his demise and censorship on the Internet prevails in China relating to searches on his true state.

Local dailies in China has proliferated speculating on his death and they said he died of lung cancer, which is believed to be one of the top causes of deaths in the mainland due to tobacco smoking.

The public still clamours for the truth as Mr Jiang remains one of the movers of China's economy in the 1990s. Will authortities in China reveal the truth about its great leader Jiang Zemin?

State media in China has officially denied that reports stating that former president Jiang Zemin had died were untrue and "pure rumour," after almost a week of speculation.

China's official news provider Xinhua News Agency on Thursday said that "authoritative sources" in its report quashing the rumours but gave no other immediate details, Agence France Press said in a related report.

Speculation that the 84-year-old former Chinese leader maybe gravely ill spread on Friday after he failed to appear at celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party.

His absence was so obvious as the other other retired party and national leaders - including former prime ministers Li Peng and Zhu Rongji - were present at the gala at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

On Wednesday, his name and other related searches appeared on China's Twitter version Weibo and were immediately censored by the state.

Tight Internet censorship prevails in China especially if it concerns the health of national leaders because they believe it could trigger national instability.

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