Beijing may review Rio-BHP joint venture

Beijing said its anti-monopoly law gives it the right to review the proposed Australian joint venture between mining firms Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, the South China Morning Post reported. A Ministry of Commerce spokesman, Yao Jian, said that the government had not received an application for review from the two companies, but noted that the law’s clauses on industrial concentration could be the basis for the review. While neither company is based in China, the anti-monopoly law requires companies with combined global sales over US$1.46 billion or China sales of US$292.56 million to submit their case to Beijing for review. Rio and BHP jointly produce 80% of Australia’s iron ore exports and 36% of global iron ore exports. Yao said that the review would be conducted in "a controlled manner" so as not to create trade friction between the two countries.