China Invest Corp Reiterates No Interest In Rio Tinto Stake

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp., reiterated Tuesday it doesn’t plan to buy a stake in mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RTP), which is trying to fend off a takeover by BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU)

CIC’s denial, given by an official who declined to be named, follows a report Tuesday in the U.K. newspaper The Guardian saying European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson held high-level talks with the CIC and confirmed the idea of the Chinese fund taking a stake in Rio Tinto.

CIC earlier denied a Chinese press report that it was interested in buying into Rio Tinto.

A spokesman for Mandelson, now in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials, said Mandelson met with CIC Chairman Lou Jiwei but didn’t know whether CIC was planning to take a stake in Rio Tinto.

The CIC official said the meeting between CIC and Mandelson was just a regular meeting.