Bloomberg had reported that Metro was working with banks Citi and JP Morgan on reviewing options for its China unit, including selling a minority stake or finding a strategic partner.

Metro runs 93 stores in China and reported like-for-like sales up 2.9 percent in Asia in the first nine months of its 2017/18 financial year.

Once a sprawling retail conglomerate, Metro has been restructuring in recent years to focus on its core cash-and-carry business, selling its Kaufhof department stores and then splitting from consumer electronics group Ceconomy.

Analysts have speculated that the revamp could go further since Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky took a stake in the company, which last month announced plans to sell its struggling Real hypermarket chain.

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Emma Thomasson; Editing by David Goodman)