SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Australia's trade minister has expressed "strong concern" to the Shanghai city government regarding the detention of an executive working for Rio Tinto, but Simon Crean said he did not expect the matter to impact trade ties.
Stern Hu, an Australian national, and three Chinese employees of Rio Tinto's iron ore department were detained last week, on what China said was suspicion of stealing state secrets.
"Australian authorities continue to seek further information about the circumstances surrounding Mr Hu's detention," the foreign ministry said in a statement handed to reporters.
The detentions came just after Chinese steel mills, led by the China Iron and Steel Association, failed to reach an agreement on 2009 iron ore prices with Rio and rival miners BHP Billiton and Vale by a June 30 deadline.
At least one senior official at China's eighth largest steel mill, Shougang, has also been detained, media said.
Australian authorities had met with Stern Hu Friday. "He appeared well and raised no health or welfare issues during the meeting," the statement said.
China broadly defines what constitutes a state secret. In the last four years, the annual term iron ore price negotiations have become increasingly fraught, with the result seen as vital to China's national interest.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, writing by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
