Australia plays down talk of foreign buyer crackdown

Tag : chinese labor

By Rob Taylor and James Regan
CANBERRA/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia played down reports onThursday that it might tighten foreign-investment rules to curbChinese takeovers of local resource firms, as it emerged thatChina's Sinosteel was pursuing a second iron ore miner.
Various government sources declined to comment on the unsourcedreport in the Australian newspaper, which said the government waslooking to put a 49.9 percent ownership cap on foreign sovereignfirms.
The move was designed to stop Chinese state-backed firms fromtaking control of Australian miners, the newspaper said
The centre-left Labor government wanted to send China a messagethat "it can play in our sand-pit but it cannot own it", thenewspaper quoted an "insider" as saying.
But Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan told reporters on Thursday thegovernment welcomed foreign investment if it was in the nationalinterest.
"We welcome foreign investment, we welcome it from everywhere,including from China, but we will apply decisions on a case-by-casebasis in the national interest," said Swan.
Swan and Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) wouldnot comment on the reported plan to cap foreign ownership.
The government said in February it would tighten scrutiny ofinvestments into the country by state-owned funds in a sign ofunease at their growing investment clout. Continued...