GUANGZHOU - Authorities in the South China province of Guangdong Friday denied media reports it plans to create the world's largest metropolis.

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Foreign media, including The Telegraph and Daily Mail newspapers, reported that Guangdong plans to merge nine cities in the Pearl River Delta - including Shenzhen and Guangzhou - to create a megacity.

Guo Yuewen, spokesman for the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the reports are false.

Guo said the province has no intention to merge the nine cities.

"There is no such thing," Guo said.

The government aims to promote the development of three economic circles, each of which has three cities, by integrating infrastructure, industrial distribution, urban and rural planning, environment protection and basic public services, he said.

"We want to speed up economic and social development in the Pearl River Delta and boost its competitive edge through the sharing of infrastructure, cooperative management of public affairs, and coordinated urban planning," he added.

The delta region, a major manufacturing center, accounts for about 10 percent of China's gross domestic product.

The nine cities, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Jiangmen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing, have a population of more than 40 million and cover an area of 41,700 square kilometers.