Tencent Holdings' WeChat, China's most popular messenger app, on Tuesday denied storing users' chat histories.
Tencent's announcement follows media reports quoting a businessman as saying he believed Tencent was monitoring everyone's account.
"WeChat does not store any users' chat history. That is only stored in users' mobiles, computers and other terminals," WeChat said in a post on the social media platform.
"WeChat will not use any content from user chats for big data analysis. Because of WeChat's technical model that does not store or analyze user chats, the rumor that 'we are watching your WeChat everyday' is pure misunderstanding."
Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holdings, owner of the Volvo car brand, was quoted in Chinese media on Monday as saying Tencent Chairman Ma Huateng "must be watching all our WeChats every day".
Like all Chinese social media platforms, WeChat is required to censor public posts deemed "illegal" by the Communist Party. WeChat's privacy policy says it may need to retain and disclose users' information "in response to a request by a government authority, law enforcement agency or similar body".
China's cyber watchdog in September announced a new rule making chat group administrators and companies accountable for breaches of content rules.