The Rio Tinto case will not and should not hurt trade and economic ties between China and Australia, Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying said Wednesday.

He was speaking after China's Supreme People's Procuratorate on Tuesday announced the arrest of four employees of the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto on charges of stealing commercial secrets and bribery.

The four were Stern Hu, an Australian citizen of Chinese origin, and three Chinese -- Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong -- who were all working in the company's Shanghai office when they were detained on July 5.

Preliminary investigation showed the four were suspected of "obtaining commercial secrets about China's steel companies and iron industry through improper means" under the article 219 of China's Criminal Law, the Procuratorate said.

"This is an isolated judicial case," Fu said.

China was ruled by law and the judicial decision in the case would undoubtedly be fair, said Fu.

However, Sam Walsh, Rio Tinto's chief executive iron ore, said "from all the information available to us, we continue to believe that our employees have acted properly and ethically in their business dealings in China."

"Rio Tinto will strongly support its employees in defending these allegations," Walsh said Wednesday.

According to Walsh, Rio Tinto, the world's second largest iron ore provider, would continue its business operations in China, including maintenance of iron ore shipments from Australia.

On July 22, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said "we have enough evidence to prove the people involved obtained China's state secrets illegally." He also urged the Australian side to treat the case "properly" and respect China's judicial sovereignty.

The Rio Tinto case showed the Chinese government's resolution to create and maintain a competitive, open and fair market environment in the country, Fu said.

"It will not hurt China's efforts to attract foreign investment. On the contrary, it will help us in terms of attracting foreign investment," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)