(Yicai) Nov. 29 -- The claims about NetEase disbanding its whole gaming team in Shenzhen are false, according to an insider close to the Chinese tech giant.

NetEase carried out a regular personnel adjustment to a single game product months ago, the source told The Paper today. The employees affected were transferred to other game projects, it added.

Rumors claiming NetEase laid off the whole team at its Shenzhen office started circulating on Chinese social media platforms yesterday.

NetEase reported a net profit of CNY6.5 billion (USD898.5 million) and revenue of CNY26.2 billion (USD3.6 billion) in the third quarter of the year, down 17 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, according to the financial statement released by the Hangzhou-based firm on Nov. 14.

Revenue from the gaming business fell 4.2 percent to CNY20.9 billion in the period, with online game operations accounting for nearly 97 percent of the total.

Editor: Futura Costaglione