(Yicai Global) Feb. 3 -- Huawei Technologies has dismissed rumors that Xu Zhijun, the Chinese tech giant’s rotating chairman, is about to jump ship to the firm’s close business partner Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment.

The rumors are groundless and deliberately provocative, the Shenzhen-based company said yesterday, adding that they have had severe ramifications on the 54-year-olds professional and personal life. Huawei said it will take legal action against the rumor spreaders.

A recent post on career-focused social network site Maimai said Xu will take up the posts of chairman and general manager at Micro Electronics, a producer of projection mask aligners used to make semiconductor chips.

Xu, who has worked for Huawei for 28 years, Guo Ping and Hu Houkun take turns in the chairman’s seat through the year.

Xu was at a company marketing conference just days ago, an insider told Yicai Global. There have been no internal notifications of any changes to his roles of deputy chairman and rotating chairman, the person added.

Editor: Kim Taylor