Chinalco revamp as row heats up

JUST one week after striking a milestone $30.3 billion deal with Rio Tinto, Chinese giant Chinalco has replaced its chairman.
Xiong Weiping takes over from Xiao Yaqing, who has overseen Chinalco's international expansion since 2002.
It will now be Mr Xiong's task to convince the Australian Government to grant approval for the Rio investment.

The political row over the Chinalco tie-up reached new heights yesterday, amid calls for the Senate to launch an inquiry into China's increasing presence in Australia's vital resources sector.
Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce urged the Federal Government to consider tightening the Foreign Investment Review Board's regulations covering Chinese government-backed investment in local mining companies.
"This is an economic question about giving another government a stake in Australian resources, our biggest wealth generator," Senator Joyce said.
"This is not being parochial about foreign investment, it is about the ownership of Australian resources being handed to another government."
Senator Joyce needs support from five Greens as well as his coalition colleagues to start an inquiry.
The government-owned Chinalco has agreed to buy $11.2 billion in convertible bonds and $19.1 billion in iron ore, aluminium and copper assets from Rio.

Treasurer Wayne Swan last week moved to change the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act to allow for greater government oversight of such investments.
In other developments, Fortescue Metals denied reports that China Investment Corp-backed Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group was in the final stages of negotiating a $3 billion investment in the iron ore miner to be unveiled next week.
The investment talks were "incomplete" and did not "warrant disclosure", Fortescue said in a statement lodged with the ASX.
Speaking to journalists in Beijing, Valin general manager Li Jianguo said the company still had concerns over Fortescue's level of debt.
"We haven't hired a banker on this because the talks are still in a very initial stage," Mr Li said. "We do have concerns that they have rather high debt levels."
Fortescue, which sold shares in December to pay bills, wants to resume expansion after postponing plans due to the credit crisis and tumbling commodities demand.
Meanwhile, Baosteel chairman Xu Lejiang hosed down speculation that the Chinese steelmaker was also in talks to invest in the miner.


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