The South China Morning Post, citing sources close to Chen, said the 76-year-old was recently released into a top Beijing military hospital for treatment of an unspecified illnesses.

Chen, a former member of the ruling Communist Party's politburo, was jailed in 1998 after being convicted of graft and dereliction of duty in one of the most high-profile cases of graft to have been unearthed in Beijing.

According to the paper, Chen was not expected to regain complete freedom and was most likely to have his movements restricted due to parole conditions and political reasons.

When contacted by AFP on Monday, officials with the Beijing government and the city's Prison Administration Bureau said they had no knowledge of the reported release and refused to comment further.

Chen's fate after being jailed has been the subject of much intrigue, with government authorities always refusing to comment.

Many Beijing citizens believe that, due to his former status and the political intrigue surrounding his trial, he was released into some form of house arrest years ago.

Hong Kong media have previously reported that he had already been released on medical parole.

Chen's jailing was widely seen as a result of a political struggle with former president Jiang Zemin, who rose to power in the aftermath of the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests and who was seeking to remove his closest rivals as he consolidated political power.

Chen remains generally despised in the capital for his role as Beijing mayor during the crackdown on the protests that resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of ordinary citizens being gunned down in the city's streets.

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