Reportedly, China has drafted three plans to act against BHP Billiton's acquisition of Rio Tinto in order to protect the interests of Chinese steel companies. Jia Liangqun, a veteran analyst in the steel industry, said that Chinese top governmental officials and the steel companies have reached a consensus to act against the merger.

As for the three plans, plan A is that the domestic steel enterprises form a consortium to bid for Rio Tinto; plan B is to collaborate with foreign ventures to bid for the company; plan C is to buy the shares of Rio Tinto in the overseas secondary markets and use leverage presence in the company to block the merger.

In addition, it is reported that China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC) and BOC International (China) Limited (BOCI China) have been engaged as bidding consultants at the request of the Chinese steel companies. But neither CICC nor BOCI China has confirmed the information.

Another report reveals that China is likely to take political measures by appealing to the anti-monopoly departments of the UK and Australia to block the merger.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese. (http://www.dfdaily.com/node2/node27/node120/userobject1ai48393.shtml)

(China.org.cn December 25, 2007)