Australian iron ore company Midwest Corporation announced yesterday that it appointed Cheng Sijun, Wu Hongbin and Ian McCubbin as its directors, in line with recommendations by Sinosteel.

Sinosteel said two days ago that it would nominate the three if it gained control of Midwest, making it clear that Sinosteel is well on its way to achieving this goal.

Sinosteel currently holds 49.66 percent of MIS's total shares. An executive noted that it won't be long before this figure exceeds 50 percent.

"This acquisition will be victorious and plays a demonstrative role for the entire Chinese steel business," industry experts said. "Since the price of iron ore keeps soaring, only by investing in upstream industry could steel enterprises survive the fierce competition and maintain their profit margin."

Sinosteel's acquisition of Midwest is another high-profile transaction, after Chinalco recently became Rio Tinto's largest single shareholder.

The 1.36 billion Australian dollar transaction is by far China's largest overseas purchase of metal resources as well as the first "hostile takeover" of an Australian iron ore industry by a Chinese enterprise.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.bbtnews.com.cn/mainland/channel/51558.shtml).

(China.org.cn July 11, 2008)