BEIJING (Commodity Online): Rion Tinto, world’s iron ore mining major, is caught in a spot over the iron ore price talks in China.

And China’s secret service says Rio has been doing spy work in China. Rio could have been stealing China’s steel industry secrets for as many as six years, said a report appeared on a website.

China also accused the multinational mining firm of costing the country 700 billion yuan ($102 billion) in excessive charges for iron ore.

The report was published on Baomi.org, a website affiliated with the National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets, and written by Jiang Ruqin, ex-director of the Huai’an State secrets bureau in Jiangsu province.

In it, he claims the severity of the case highlights the need for enhanced surveillance of commercial secrets by the government.

China detained four Rio Tinto employees based in Shanghai, including Chinese-born Australian executive Stern Hu, on charges of industrial espionage in July.

Rio insisted the suspects had done nothing unethical and denied claims that its employees bribed Chinese steel mill staff for information related to iron ore pricing.

Jiang’s report states that, even though the state secrets laws listed economic intelligence as being under the purview of the National Secrets Protection Law, commercial secrets received insufficient attention from the watchdogs.

The watchdogs division is short-staffed, so staff members focus on government organizations and military research and development, rather than state-owned enterprises, the report says.

Jiang said the Rio case should prompt state officials and companies to do more to protect sensitive commercial information, and tighter measures should be taken to deter foreign businesses from spying.

He also said the country has entered a peak period of commercial espionage warfare, while the threat to economic intelligence and security of national economic activity increases by the day.

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