Govt: Proof against spies sticks

According to the anonymous source, Tan maintained a close relationship with Hu. This April, according to the newspaper's report, Hu went to the headquarters of the Shougang Group in Beijing and had conversations with Tan and other executives on iron ore prices.

The Shougang Group has denied all links with Rio Tinto and said it knows nothing about Tan's detention.

The company also denied any connection between the detention of Hu and its firm.

At the end of last year, Rio Tinto signed a 10-year contract with Jiangxi's Ping Xiang Iron & Steel Co Ltd, with Stern Hu as Rio Tinto's representative.

Hu also signed similar agreements with small- and medium-sized steelmakers in Shanxi and Hebei.

The China Iron and Steel Association was strongly against such agreements because they said the contracts would influence the iron ore price negotiations.

In China, steel makers are banned from signing long-term iron ore supply contracts with foreign suppliers such as Rio Tinto without permission.

The source also said the arrest of Tan may be just the beginning and more investigations will be carried out in China's major steel production areas such as Shandong and Hebei, aiming to regulate the disordered iron ore market of the country.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.