Authorities have denied that water contamination is responsible for the suspension of live fish sales at Beijing supermarkets.

A Chaoyang supermarket, owned by Chinese retailer Yonghui Superstores, put up a sign saying that the facility's water tanks had broken down.

But shop assistant Liu Beibei said polluted water had been found in a fish farm in a Beijing suburb, which resulted in the fish containing excessive harmful elements. As a result, the supermarket stopped selling live river fish a week ago.

"It's better not to buy or eat river fish recently," he said.

But local authorities denied that was the problem.

Beijing's local food and drug administration published a notice on its official Weibo account on Wednesday stating that more than 90 percent of aquatic products being sold in the city passed quality inspections.

"There were no signs that water pollution had contaminated freshwater fish," said the post.

Some small-scale live fish stands in residential communities are still selling, such as one in Yuejiyuan community in Haidian district.

The owner said he bought the fish from a wholesale market in Beijing.

"My fish have no problem. Residents nearby come here to buy live fish and nothing special happened," said the owner.

The China Food and Drug Administration announced on Nov 17 that it would launch a special inspection of seafood in 10 cities across the country, including checks for residue from veterinary drugs.

According to Chinese media, a leak suggesting Beijing would be among the 10 cities has prompted vendors to stop selling products in a bid to avoid examination.

All supermarkets approached by China Daily denied this speculation.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn