Media reports said that Chinese are becoming increasingly interested in buying a stake in global mining giant BHP Billiton. The Weekend Australian reports said that a state owned or private Chinese company is believed to be mulling taking a 10% share of BHP.

Last month there was speculation that Chinese steel maker Baoshan Iron & Steel was keen on taking a 9% slice of BHP. However, both Baosteel and BHP denied the talk.

In February 2008, Chinese aluminium company Chinalco teamed up with Alcoa to take 12% of Rio Tinto PLC or 9% of the dual listed group’s shares for USD 14 billion.