Anshan Steel urges no politics

A planned investment in the United States by China's Anshan Iron & Steel Group, which has concerned some US politicians, will create jobs and be good for the US, the company's president was quoted as saying.

Zhang Xiaogang told the magazine Economic and Nation Weekly that the deal should not be politicized as it was a purely business decision.

The state-owned group, the parent of Angang Steel Co, has agreed to pay US$175 million for less than a 20 percent stake in a rebar plant that Steel Development Co, a US start-up, is building in Mississippi.

A bipartisan group of 50 US lawmakers called last month for an investigation, expressing deep concern that the investment "threatened US jobs and national security."

Zhang said the investment was only for a relatively small 14 percent stake in Steel Development Co.

"The investment is a purely commercial decision, and we hope it is not politicized," he said. "We make investment decisions in the United States and other regions based on market demand. The newly constructed plant will increase employment opportunities in the area, promote economic development and increase tax income."

The US, as the largest economy in the world, was an ideal place for such long-term investments, he said.

The company has received no formal notification that the US government plans to investigate the deal, Zhang added.

China's Commerce Ministry has branded the US lawmakers protectionist for seeking to block the investment by the fourth-largest steel maker on national security grounds.

US steel firms have complained about unfair competition from China and have won several US anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel goods.