Credit Suisse agreed in 2014 to pay a $2.5 billion fine for helping rich Americans evade taxes. HSBC agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion in fines, mainly for allowing itself to be used to launder Mexican drug money.
The reports on leaks also pointed to the offshore companies linked to the families of Chinese President Xi Jinping and other powerful current and former Chinese leaders.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, when asked if the government would investigate tax affairs of those mentioned in the Panama Papers, told reporters at a daily news briefing the ministry would not comment on "these groundless accusations."
Searches for the word "Panama" on Chinese search engines bring up stories in Chinese media on the topic, but many of the links have been disabled or only open onto stories about allegations directed at sports stars.
China's Internet regulator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, suggested in an editorial on Tuesday that Western media backed by Washington used such leaks to attack political targets in non-Western countries while minimizing coverage of Western leaders.