Rio Tinto employees ‘to face trial’ in China

Rio Tinto supplies vast quantities of iron ore to China

China has indicted four Rio Tinto employees on charges of bribery and violating commercial secrets, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

The indictment means they will now face trial. Rio Tinto has declined to confirm or comment on the report.

Australian citizen Stern Hu, Rio Tinto’s lead iron ore negotiator in China, is one of the four facing trial.

Mr Hu and the three other staff members have been in detention since their arrest in July.

“The accused four, including Stern Hu, exploited their positions to seek gain for others, and numerous times either sought or illegally accepted massive bribes from a number of Chinese steel firms,” said the prosecutor’s office, as quoted by Xinhua.

“Many times they used personal inducements and other improper means to obtain commercial secrets from Chinese steel firms, causing serious consequences for the steel firms concerned.”

“It is understood that the Shanghai Municipal First Intermediate People’s Court has accepted this case according to the law,” Xinhua said.

The case has created a political and diplomatic problem for Australia’s Mandarin-speaking Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has made improving relations with Beijing a priority.

China is Australia’s biggest trading partner.

A month before the arrests, Rio scrapped a $19.5bn (£12.5bn) deal with China’s state-owned Chinalco in favour of a tie-up with rival giant BHP Billiton, which angered some in Beijing.