Firefighters say smoke seen escaping from the Pangu 7 Star Hotel on Wednesday morning was due to a faulty chimney flue, rather than an actual.

Beijing fire control authorities' released the information via their Sina micro blog account after attending the incident.

Reports of heavy smoke escaping from the building appeared on Sina on Wednesday morning, with some netizens stating that the hotel was on fire.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and found that the problem was a malfunction in a chimney at the hotel.

Pangu 7 Star Hotel, which is near the National Swimming Center and the National Stadium, is one of China's newest urban icons and the latest work of world-renowned architect C.Y. Lee, the man behind the famous Taipei 101 building.