China's press watchdog said Wednesday that it is looking into a case involving a newspaper's suspected defamation of a leading bottled water company.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and TV said it has accepted a "complaint" from Nongfu Spring Co. Ltd, which accused Beijing Times for maliciously publishing false, negative reports on the quality of its product.

From April 10 to May 7, Beijing Times consecutively published 76 negative reports totaling 67 pages, which seriously damaged the (reputation of) the company, according to a statement from Nongfu.

Nongfu claimed that the newspaper's reports lack factual basis, adding that the opinions of the administrative departments quoted in the reports were fabricated.