Background information of Rio Tinto case

The technical analysis of China steel enterprises in Rio Tinto's office computer taken away by the police is detailed, and the parameters of each production process are very accurate.

According to the relevant person of Hebei steel enterprise, no more than 10 people know the details of raw material inventory, production arrangement and sales. Mines can master these enterprise secrets, which may buy off the specific production and operation personnel of related enterprises. "The mastery of insiders of many steel enterprises in the mine may be more from the specific business personnel of steel enterprises." According to insiders, according to Tan Yixin involved in the case, although Hu Tan has a good personal relationship, Tan holds a high position in Shougang and at most reveals some details of iron ore negotiations. It is impossible to belittle yourself and provide all the details of Shougang's production and operation information to Hu Shitai. The mine is more aware of this information through the personnel of specific departments.

A senior person in the steel industry believes that because mining enterprises emphasize the details of "working experience of large steel enterprises" when recruiting, many employees of mining enterprises were originally middle and high-level steel enterprises in China, and naturally they knew the production situation of steel enterprises like the back of their hands; Even the latest production and sales situation, they can easily get it through some personal connections. "It is not impossible for mines to master the information of steel enterprises through' inner ghosts'."

Moreover, the "customer-centered" sales strategy of mining enterprises is also reflected to the greatest extent in practical work. Through the Internet, Hu Shitai visits steel mills with his subordinates almost every month, including not only steel giants such as Baosteel, Shougang and Laigang, but also small and medium-sized steel enterprises such as Xingang, Pinggang and Ye Jing. As long as Hu Shitai visits, the chairman and general manager of each enterprise will surely receive him grandly. Some medium-sized steel enterprises even said after Hu Shitai's visit: (Cooperation with Rio Tinto) has laid a solid foundation for the Group to move towards international steel enterprises.

"Hu Shitai came forward to establish high-level contacts, and the specific details were communicated by subordinates." The above-mentioned Hebei steel enterprises told reporters that the mine will visit almost every month, and the phone will be available every week. However, he believes that the contents of the exchange are mostly basic production conditions, and sometimes some iron ore contents are involved, but most of them are public information. "At least I didn't disclose corporate secrets related to production and operation."

Some insiders also revealed that the "emotional communication" between mining enterprises and steel enterprises is very close. In addition to the normal "business commission", many mines will also make necessary arrangements for relevant personnel on holidays. "This kind of management is not only aimed at the middle and high level, but also at the middle level involved in specific business." A supervisor of the three major mining enterprises in China revealed that they often send some employees to steel mills all over the country to investigate and understand the production needs of steel mills.

In addition to bribing the internal staff of China iron and steel production units and sending them to steel mills all over the country for investigation, Rio Tinto also "digs" government public relations personnel, China iron and steel experts, China mining experts and other "talents" from major steel mills and government departments all over the country with high salaries.

Previously, some people who had worked in Minmetals Group, Laigang Group and other companies worked in the three major mining companies. These people are very familiar with China iron and steel enterprises, as well as relevant iron and steel enterprises and government departments. In August 2009, the Ministry of Commerce stated that the Rio Tinto case would be judged fairly and would not affect the stable development of China-Australia economic and trade relations.

In September 2009, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that China would handle the Rio Tinto case in accordance with the law and the China-Australia agreement.

On March 23rd, 2065438+00, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang said that the Rio Tinto case was tried independently by the Australian judicial authorities in accordance with the law, and the handling method did not violate the China-China consular agreement. China and Australia have been in contact with each other on the Rio Tinto case, and China has also informed the Australian side of the relevant situation in a timely manner. In July, 2009, Australian Foreign Minister stephen smith made many remarks on different occasions, "I hope Beijing will solve the case quickly".

On July 14, 2009, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in Sydney: "This case is of great benefit to both Australia and China." And further pointed out that "I will draw my own conclusions about the whole process of handling cases." At the same time, seek various ways for China to release Hu Shitai. In this incident, before the incident, Rio Tinto did not make any statement or comment on the personnel involved in the incident, but said that it would cooperate with the relevant departments in China when the investigators inspected the company's office location and office equipment, but evacuated the foreign employees in the China office. Accordingly, some companies have issued statements unrelated to the case, including BHP Billiton, Chinalco of Vale, and some large domestic steel enterprises that have frequent contact with overseas iron ore. With the development of the incident, on July 15, Rio Tinto first commented that it believed in the quality of the company's employees and believed that the company's employees were not at fault. This position and viewpoint were also emphasized in the subsequent statement.

For iron ore negotiations, Amanda Buckley, head of Rio Tinto's Melbourne news, said that Hu Shitai was not a member of the negotiating team, nor was he the direct person in charge of the negotiations, and the negotiations were handled by Hu Shitai's department. When asked whether Rio Tinto will send a new head of iron ore business in China after the arrest of Hu Shitai and his iron ore sales team, Amanda said that the company has no such plans at present. Rio Tinto's steel shares are rising.

At the critical moment of China iron ore price negotiation, four employees of Rio Tinto Shanghai Representative Office were arrested by relevant departments on May 5 for "suspected espionage", including Hu Shitai, chief representative of Rio Tinto China. At the same time, people familiar with the matter said that an executive in charge of mining import and export in Shougang was also arrested on suspicion of leaking secrets.

Iron and steel stocks rose collectively, Xining Special Steel, Shougang and Tangshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. rose rapidly, baoshan iron & steel and Wuhan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. also rose more than 1%, and baoshan iron & steel rose nearly 2%, which was significantly stronger than the broader market. On August 12, 2009, Luo Bingsheng, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of China Steel Association, told the media that he fully supported and supported China in arresting the people involved, and called the case a judicial case, which would not affect the normal trade development between China and Australia.