French Industry Minister Eric Besson said Friday there is no information about possible Chinese involvement in the case related to car maker Renault SA (RNO.FR), and the government must not discuss anything about the complaint Renault filed with the state prosecutor in Paris on suspected industrial espionage.

"We never within the government mentioned such a possibility," Besson said in an interview with local Cable TV channel LCI, after being asked whether there was any new information about Chinese involvement in the Renault case.

Besson said the matter is in the court's hands and the government mustn't make any comment. He said he discussed the case with Renault's Chief Executive Patrick Pelata.

The complaint followed last week's suspension of three Renault employees suspected of providing proprietary information about the company's multi-billion-dollar joint electric car program with Japanese affiliate Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (7201.TO) to outside interests it hasn't identified.

One person familiar with the matter said last week that Renault was looking into possible Chinese interests involved in the episode. An official from Chinese Foreign Ministry said mentioning China in the case was "groundless and irresponsible."

-By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1740; inti.landauro@dowjones.com
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