Chinalco's Xiao to step down; Rio deal in sight

SHANGHAI - Xiao Yaqing, president of Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), is to step down after leading the firm to become the top shareholder of Rio Tinto, an investment the company plans to build on. Xiong Weiping, a former Chinalco executive and currently the General Manager of China Travel International Investment Hong Kong will replace Xiao, a company executive and spokesman confirmed on Monday. "I would not deny the fact," Lu Youqing, Chinalco's vice president, told Reuters, after being asked to comment on media reports about Xiong taking over Xiao's chair. But he stressed the company had not announced it, even internally. Lu did not give the reason or the date for the move. Born in 1959, Xiao, who aims to "build up a first-class global enterprise and a brand that stands for 100 years" for Chinalco, was the state-owned firm's top leader since 2004, capping a more than 20-year career that began as an engineer. Xiong was the president of Chinalco's listed arm Chalco, or Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, until July 2006 before being appointed as a vice chairman and the general manager of China Travel. Rio Tinto director Jim Leng has quit and will not become chairman as had been planned, raising speculation he may have objected to a potential deal with the mining group's top shareholder, Chinalco. Chinalco's Lu said that China's largest aluminium and alumina producer was hoping for a deal for an additional Rio Tinto investment, but he could not confirm any time frame. "The two companies are still in talks," Lu said. Chinalco is expected to reach a multi-billion dollar deal to buy assets from mining group Rio Tinto this week, a Chinese newspaper reported on Monday. source：Reuters