China's largest microchip maker Tsinghua Unigroup has denied media reports on Friday that it had discussions with United States chip firm Micron Technology on technology licensing and collaboration.

Yangtze River Storage Technology, of which Tsinghua Unigroup is the major shareholder, said in a statement to China Daily that: "Up to now, it has never held negotiations with Micron or any other company on any topic."

The announcement came after Japanese media quoted the company's vice chairman Ding Wenwu as saying that the firm was in discussion with Micron for cooperation.

But Yangtze River Storage Technology said Ding had "never made any comment or released any information on this".

Tsinghua Unigroup had planned to buy Micron for $23 billion, but the bid failed last year.