Lenovo played-down speculation that it was considering an acquisition of ailing BlackBerry-maker RIM, following comments made by the Chinese company’s CFO.

In a statement, Lenovo said that RIM was raised as a target by a journalist interviewing Wai Ming Wong, who then answered the question with a straight bat.

“Wong repeatedly answered in a manner consistent with all of our previous statements on M&A strategy: Lenovo is very focused on growing its business, both organically and through M&A. When inorganic ideas arise, we explore them to see if there is a strategic fit,” the company said.

Lenovo has been aggressively ramping-up its smartphone market share in order to bolster its position in growth markets as its core computer business comes under pressure.

The company has already seen some significant success in China, and is using this to drive its mobile devices business overseas, which is primarily focused on emerging markets.

While RIM has struggles of its own, the company has many attributes that could prove appealing to Lenovo.

Despite the growing “bring your own device” trend, RIM still has a strong enterprise customer base, which could fit well with the computer maker’s own corporate IT activities.

RIM also has a massive international presence in the mobile device market, including existing relationships with operators globally – an area where Lenovo is having to plough fresh ground.

And while the Lenovo brand is well known in some markets, BlackBerry is still the more familiar in the mobile market.