Xiaomi. Photo: VCG

Chinese leading smartphone maker Xiaomi refutes rumors that it no longer supports Google Mobile Services (GMS) on its smartphones on Thursday. 

The company said it will no longer allow users to install the GMS by themselves but will provide more models with pre-installed GMS systems, according to a statement issued by the company on its official Weibo account on Thursday.

The statement comes after some users who have purchased Xiaomi phones without pre-installed GMS started, reporting that they weren't able to download GMS after recent updates.

The company confirmed that it won't affect certain domestic models with pre-installed GMS and international models which are all installed with GMS.

Whether the phone is installed with GMS will not affect using non-Google platforms, said Xiaomi's Director of the Smartphone Software Department, Zhang Guoquan, on Sina Weibo.

"To pre-install GMS it needs to occupy 700M storage space and 200M of memory. If the GMS communication is abnormal, it may cause excess heating and power consumption. That why some domestic versions don't come with preinstalled GMS," Zhang explained.

"With the performance of processors, memory, storage space and batteries of new products continue to improve, we will definitely make the most beneficial choice for users under the premise of ensuring the using experience," he added.