China urges other countries to adopt an open attitude toward overseas investment, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said?Thursday.

Jiang's comment came after Australia's Department of Defence reportedly refused to support a joint venture proposal involving a Chinese iron company.

The Department was reported to veto a proposal between Australian iron ore producer Western Plains Resources and China's Wuhan Iron and Steel to carry out a feasibility study on a south Australian magnetite deposit Hawks Nest.

Chinese enterprises' economic and trade cooperation handled on the principle of equality and mutual benefit is conducive to realizing a win-win situation, said Jiang,

The Chinese government always backs its enterprises to carry out overseas investment and cooperation in accord with market rules and international regulations, she said.

As China always stands open for foreign investment, China hopes other countries could do the same for China's enterprises, Jiang said.