China has denied any involvement in an industrial espionage scandal that has erupted at French car maker Renault, calling such claims "groundless, irresponsible and unacceptable".
French newspaper Le Figaro reported that a Chinese firm had paid undisclosed sums into Swiss and Liechtenstein bank accounts opened by two Renault executives implicated in the inquiry, which centres on electric car technology.
"As for this so-called story that China is involved, we believe this is totally groundless, irresponsible and unacceptable," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters on Tuesday.
Renault said it had suspended three top managers last week over suspicions they had leaked strategic information. Reports said the secrets concerned details of the electric cars on which Renault has staked its future.
The French firm has said it did not lose any major trade secrets in the affair. The three managers have been summoned to meetings with Renault bosses on Tuesday, union leaders told AFP.
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Le Figaro, which did not identify its sources, reported on its website late on Monday that the payments were discovered by private investigators hired by Renault.
The investigators uncovered a Swiss account containing 500,000 euros ($A650,700) and another in Liechtenstein with 130,000 euros ($A169,200).
It said the money had been paid in by a Chinese power company.
In what appeared to be a bid to hide the payments, the cash was moved via a series of intermediary transfers via Shanghai and Malta.
Renault made no comment to Le Figaro on its story, but in comments to Le Monde newspaper at the weekend, the company's number two, chief operating officer Patrick Pelata, spoke in terms of an "organised international network".
Various media reports and analysts said spies were after information on the high-stakes electric car program, and that Chinese firms stood to benefit.
But neither the company nor the French government has confirmed those claims.
The French government used to own Renault and still has a 15 per cent stake in the company, which makes trucks, buses and agricultural vehicles as well as cars and vans.
Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan have staked their future on electric vehicles and plan to launch several models by 2014 to meet the rapidly rising demand for more environmentally-friendly methods of transport.
They have invested four billion euros ($A5.21 billion) in the program.
Nissan has said it has confidence in how the French company was handling the affair.
"Our partner is very focused on making sure they understand what went wrong," said Carlos Tavares, chairman of Nissan's Americas division.
"We at Nissan trust that our partner Renault will do the right thing to fix it."
