Keywords mining, China, foreign capital
Sino-foreign mining war
China business news
Yamei Daning is located in Jincheng, Shanxi, with nearly 2,000 employees. Last year, the sales revenue was 654.38+75 million yuan, and the taxes paid were 654.38+90 million yuan. However, such a large enterprise has been fettered by disputes between Chinese and foreign shareholders for nine years.
With the investment of $30 million, foreign capital finally controlled a large coal mine worth more than one billion yuan, which shocked us and made us want to explore the evolution of this Sino-foreign cooperative enterprise. What is the original intention of cooperation? Where does the contradiction come from? How to change the equity of the cooperative company ...
CBN reporters made a special trip to Jincheng for this purpose, interviewed domestic and foreign parties and obtained a large number of original documents. By combing and judging the facts, we have to admit that the deadlock between Chinese and foreign shareholders today stems from the setting of the equity ratio when the cooperative company was established, that is, foreign capital gained the controlling position and Chinese enterprises lost the initiative!
The equity setting of Yamei Daning and the dispute over mining rights are both issues left over from history. The viewpoint of Jincheng Municipal Government, that is, "disputes between shareholders should be settled at the level of shareholders, which cannot affect employees' mood and safety in production", should undoubtedly be supported. We hope that this dispute can be solved reasonably within the framework of law, so that this large coal enterprise can get rid of the historical burden and psychological burden!
"Chinese-foreign mining competition" is not only staged in the coal field, but also in the field of gold exploration and mining. CBN reporter found that since 1990s, foreign capital has joined the "gold rush" in China. However, with the tightening of policies, foreign capital is gradually withdrawing.
Orchid Group is one of the largest and most profitable backbone coal enterprises in Shanxi Province. Orchid Science and Technology, a listed company, currently holds 36% shares of Shanxi Yamei Daning Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yamei Daning"), and Thailand Wanpu Group Company (hereinafter referred to as "Thailand Wanpu") holds 56% shares of Yamei Daning.
According to a person familiar with Jincheng coalfield, He Guiyuan, the chairman of Orchid Group, is very determined to get back the controlling stake of Yamei Daning. He Guiyuan made two suggestions. First, foreign capital transferred the equity of Yamei Daning 15% to Orchid Group, making Orchid Group's shares in the joint venture company reach 51%; Second, the foreign party transferred the equity of Yamei Daning 1 1% to Orchid Group, making Orchid Group's share in the joint venture company reach 47% and foreign investors' share in the joint venture company reach 45%.
For He Guiyuan's proposal, Thailand Wanpu, the current controlling party of Yamei Daning, is noncommittal.
What makes Orchid Group stand at the forefront is a report in People's Daily a month ago that "the state-owned assets of joint-venture coal enterprises are seriously lost, and foreign investors earn 3 billion yuan without paying taxes". According to the report, Yamei Daning, a Sino-foreign joint venture company, illegally obtained a coal production license, ignored safety regulations and seriously exceeded production capacity, and its foreign shareholders defrauded the controlling stake of the cooperative company; Take away the mining rights of state-owned coal enterprises and sell China's mineral resources in disguise, making a profit of 3 billion without paying taxes.
Investment promotion ten years ago
"At that time, the attitude of the United States was very firm. If you don't let control, you won't do it. "
Daning Coal Mine originally belonged to North Extension Coal Mine of Orchid Group, and was included in the national "Ninth Five-Year Plan" construction plan, with a designed annual output of 3 million tons.
The preparation of Daning Coal Mine started at 1992. Initially, Jincheng Municipal Government requested Jincheng Coal Administration Bureau to set up Daning Coal Mine Preparation Headquarters. Although the headquarters carried out some preliminary work, due to the constraints of the construction system at that time, the construction was delayed, and the Jincheng municipal government decided to start a new stove. 1On May 24, 1995, the general office of Jincheng Municipal Government issued the Notice on Revoking Beiyan Coal Mine to Take Over the Construction Headquarters of Daning Coal Mine with the document [Jin Ban (1995) No.5/kloc-0].
At this time, it is the low point of China coal industry, and the coal market price is upside down. For a long time, the price per ton of coal was only tens of yuan, which is not the same as the current price of more than 500 yuan. Many coal mines are struggling, and investing in coal mines is a taboo for many capitals. The first phase project of Daning Coal Mine broke ground in August, 1996, which was invested by Orchid Group. The construction scale of the first phase is 600,000 tons/year. By June of199, the annual production capacity was only 300,000 tons.
"Based on this background, around 1998, the Jincheng Municipal Government made formal contact with the American coalbed methane coal mine group." A person familiar with the matter said, "Because Yamei Daning is close to Jincheng Yangcheng International Power Generation Company, it can also directly supply coal to Yangcheng Power Generation Company. Yangcheng Power Plant is also a joint venture with American enterprises as shareholders. To this end, the foreign party agreed to invest in Daning Coal Mine. "
According to the official data of Jincheng City,1May 1998, at the invitation of the American coalbed methane coal mine group, a delegation composed of Jincheng officials and the heads of Beiyan Coal Mine and Daning Coal Mine went to the United States for a two-week inspection on further promoting the Sino-US joint venture to build Daning Coal Mine.
In the United States, the delegation held talks with coalbed methane mining group on the joint venture construction of Daning coal mine project. 1June, 1998 15, the delegation wrote in the investigation report submitted to the Jincheng Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government: "During the talks, the two sides reached an understanding on some specific issues, such as agreeing that the proportion of US investment should account for 60% ~ 70% of the total investment. , so that the US has a deep understanding of the reform and opening up policies of Jincheng and China, and further enhanced understanding. " This may have laid the initial foreshadowing for the foreign holding of Asian-American Daning.
In the later negotiations, the main negotiator was Shi Shui, former director of Jincheng Coal Management Bureau, and Ge Wenshan, former head of Beiyan Coal Mine. "Both of them had asked China to hold shares, but at that time, the American attitude was also very firm. If they refuse to hold shares, they will quit. " The above-mentioned insiders revealed.
1998165438+1October, in the project proposal drawn up by Jincheng Municipal Government and the United States, the foreign shareholder was clearly Asian American CoalInc (hereinafter referred to as "AACI") was established in the British Virgin Islands. The main shareholders of AACI include the American CBM Energy Company and the American Energy Capital Fund.
On June 5438+1October 2 1 day, 2000, Jincheng Municipal Government signed a formal contract with foreign parties in the name of Jincheng Daning. According to the contract, the total investment of the cooperative company is17.88 million USD, and the registered capital is120,000 USD. Foreign investors contributed US$ 6.72 million in cash and held 56% of the shares; Jincheng Daning converted land and fixed assets into shares of 4.32 million US dollars, holding 36%, and Shanxi Coal Transportation and Marketing Company invested 960,000 US dollars in cash, holding 8%; The cooperation period is 25 years.
On February 17, 2000, Jincheng Municipal Government decided to establish Jincheng Daning Coal Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jincheng Daning") as the main body of foreign cooperation with a registered capital of150 million yuan, of which Orchid Group holds 70% of the shares and Ge Wenshan is the chairman.
During the investment promotion period, there was also an episode. In March 2000, the Party Committee of Beiyan Coal Mine and Beiyan Coal Mine jointly reported to Jincheng Municipal Government that the coal resources of Beiyan Coal Mine were exhausted, and Daning Coal Mine, as the replacement well of Beiyan Coal Mine, was not only related to the employment of more than 3,000 employees in Beiyan Coal Mine, but also related to the issue of national resources, and opposed cooperation with foreign parties.
The objection finally went away, and Daning Coal Mine was separated from Beiyan Coal Mine.
Mystery of mining area valuation
When the two sides began to quarrel over the registered capital, Jincheng ignored an important issue-the reasonable evaluation of coal mine value.
On May 12, 2000, Yamei Daning was officially listed.
According to the articles of association of the joint venture company, the Chinese person is the chairman, the American person is the general manager, and the first chairman is Shi Shuiqing, then director of Jincheng Coal Management Bureau.
At that time, the articles of association stipulated that the total contribution period of the registered capital of the company was three years, and all parties should pay 15% of their registered capital within three months from the date of issuance of the business license.
It is also clear in the company's articles of association that Party A (Jincheng Daning) has transferred the coal resource right to the cooperative company, and has not set any pledge right and imposed any restrictions other than those stipulated by China laws and regulations.
But in fact, Jincheng Daning (incorporated on April 14, 2000) had not obtained the legal person qualification when signing the contract with the foreign party in 2000. This has once again laid the groundwork for future disputes between the two sides. "According to the previous agreement between the two sides, the US should come up with 6.72 million US dollars, but in fact, the US took 6.5438+0.08 million US dollars in the first year. However, it was allowed to be in office for three years. " The above-mentioned insiders said.
In three years, the United States failed to fulfill its total investment of 6.72 million US dollars. China believes that before the establishment of the joint venture company, about 50 million yuan of land and fixed assets have been invested in the cooperative company. The foreign party believes that Daning, the shareholder of the joint venture company, is not a legal person.
As the funds of Jincheng Coal Management Bureau have not been fully available, in 2004, Jincheng Daning transferred its 36% equity of Yamei Daning to Orchid Technology, a listed company of Orchid Group, and Jincheng Daning was dissolved on March 22, 2005.
Shi Shuiqing, former director of Jincheng Coal Administration Bureau, left his post in June 20001,and Li Guoben, former deputy head of Qinshui County, Jincheng City, took over as the second chairman. Later, in 2003, he was appointed as the deputy director of Jincheng Economic and Trade Commission due to job transfer. Since then, He Guiyuan, chairman of Orchid Group, has been the chairman of Yamei Daning.
However, just as the two sides began to quarrel over the registered capital, Jincheng ignored an important issue-the reasonable evaluation of the coal mine value. According to the current official coal resource price of 6.6 yuan/ton, the geological reserves of Daning Coal Mine are 233 million tons, with a value of at least 654.38+04 billion yuan.
Generally speaking, coal mines can only be produced and constructed after obtaining the mining license issued by the Ministry of Land and Resources.
In June, 20001year, Jincheng municipal government reported to Shanxi provincial government "Request for instructions on urgently obtaining mining license certificate of Daning coal mine". According to the request, "The Department of Geology and Mining of Daning Coal Mine approved the mining of No.3, No.7 and No.998 anthracite in 1998, with a geological reserve of 434.985 million tons, and the mining area was kept for two years."
"During the retention period of the mining area, Daning Coal Mine obtained a business license to evaluate and confirm the mining right price. At present, the retention period of Daning coal mine area has expired, and the preliminary work of mining right registration and obtaining mining license certificate has been completed. Jincheng Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources has officially reported to the Provincial Department of Land and Resources. "
Therefore, Jincheng Municipal Government requests Shanxi Provincial Government to examine and approve the mining license of Daning Coal Mine as soon as possible.
However, on September 7th, 20001year, Shanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources submitted the Request for Instructions on Applying for Approval of Mining Area Scope and Mining Right Registration of Jincheng Coal Mine to the Ministry of Land and Resources, and the applicant was changed from Daning in Jincheng to Daning in Yamei. In the request for instructions, Yamei Daning said that the Shanxi Provincial Development Planning Commission approved the proposal of the 4 million tons/year expansion project of Jincheng Daning Coal Mine, and reported the feasibility study report of the project to the State Planning Commission in the document [Jin Mei Fa Yu Zi (200 1) 140].
On September 30th, 20001year, the Ministry of Land and Resources (20065438+0) No.65438+03 sent a reply to Yamei Daning, one of which was that the mining right of the mine was formed by state-funded exploration, and the mining right could not be applied until the mining right price was evaluated and confirmed. Since then, the Ministry of Land and Resources has entrusted Beijing Haitian Resources Consulting Co., Ltd., an evaluation agency, to evaluate the mining rights, and confirmed the evaluation results. The value of mining rights is 62.222 million yuan.
In February 2002, Yamei Daning submitted a report on the payment plan for mining rights to the Ministry of Land and Resources. Yamei Daning said in this report that the company, as the applicant of mining right, is applying for the mining right of Daning Coal Mine in Jincheng City, Shanxi Province in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations. In this report, Shanxi Yamei Daning also applied for the installment payment of mining rights, which will be paid in six years.
Subsequently, Jincheng issued a request for instructions on the mining license of Daning Coal Mine in Yamei, and the Shanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources also issued a request to the Ministry of Land and Resources to obtain a mining license for Yamei Daning. In April 2002, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued a mining license to Yamei Daning with the license number 100002 10004.
Controversial mining rights
The foreign party believes that the joint venture company has applied for mining rights; The Chinese side believes that Daning Coal Industry should first obtain the mining right and then transfer it to the cooperative company.
According to the Management Measures for the Transfer of Prospecting and Mining Rights promulgated by the State Council in February 1998, there are two ways to obtain mining rights. One is to apply directly for the transferee, that is, the qualified mining right applicant applies to the state management department for the transferee; The other is transfer, that is, paid acquisition from the right holder who has obtained the mining right.
Therefore, the two sides have different opinions about the mining license obtained by Yamei Daning. The foreign party believes that the joint venture company has legally applied for mining rights; The Chinese side believes that according to the contract, the legal procedure for the joint venture company to obtain the mining right should be that Daning Coal Industry obtains the mining right and then transfers it to the cooperative company.
The Chinese reason is that in May and June of 20001year, the former Jincheng Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources issued a document to the Shanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources, all of which made it clear that "the mining right belongs to Jincheng Daning". However, in September 20001year, when Yamei Daning applied to the Ministry of Land and Resources for registration of mining rights, the applicant for mining rights suddenly changed from Jincheng Daning to Yamei Daning.
The foreign party's reason is that at the second board meeting held in Daning, Asia-America on August 24th, 2000, the provisions on "Transfer of Coal Resource Rights" stipulated that the relevant approval documents of the State Planning Commission, the Shanxi Provincial Planning Commission, the Shanxi Provincial Coal Resource Management Committee, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Geology and Minerals and the Jincheng Municipal Government (all the above approval documents have been obtained and will be submitted to the Shanxi Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation as an annex to the cooperation contract) show that Party A has legally obtained the coal resource rights. Shanxi Provincial Planning Commission's reply (obtained) to the project proposal and feasibility study report of establishing a cooperative company shows that the coal resource right has been legally transferred to the cooperative company with the approval of relevant government departments (all relevant approvals have been obtained). Therefore, Party A does not need to sign another legal document on the transfer of coal resource rights with the cooperative company. All directors present at the meeting unanimously adopted the above explanation on the transfer of coal resource rights.
However, the two sides have different understandings of the minutes of the second board meeting. China believes that coal resource rights and mining rights cannot be equated. Meanwhile, the board of directors of the joint venture company does not represent the opinions of the three shareholders. The foreign party believes that the mining right has been replaced by the coal resource right, and the board of directors of the joint venture company is signed by representatives of three shareholders, including Shi Shuiqing and Ge Wenshan, and the board of directors is legal.
In addition, according to the Measures for the Administration of Mineral Resources Mining Registration issued by the State Council 1998, the application for mining rights should be submitted to the State Planning Commission for approval of the project itself. The relevant report submitted by Yamei Daning to the Ministry of Land and Resources shows that "the feasibility study report of this project was submitted to the State Planning Commission as [Jin Ji Wai Zi (200 1)No. 140] (hereinafter referred to as" 140 ")."
According to media reports, in June 2008, Zhu, a lawyer of Dacheng Law Firm hired by Orchid Group, went to the Shanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission to collect evidence, and found that in the archives room of Shanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission, "the file name and document number of 20081February1day were registered as 140, but there was no original of this key document."
People familiar with the matter also said that when Shanxi Provincial Planning Commission reported the document No.2004 to the State Planning Commission. 140, the State Planning Commission did not reply, and Yamei Daning only received a reply from the Shanxi Provincial Planning Commission. It was not until 2004 that I got a reply from the National Development and Reform Commission.
In 2004, Taiyuan Customs failed to find the approval of the State Planning Commission on the qualification of Daning project in Asia and the United States in the record of tax reduction and exemption for the second phase project of Daning Coal Mine, and reported it to the State General Administration of Customs. After that, the General Administration of Customs sent a letter to the National Development and Reform Commission asking about this matter.
Although the State Planning Commission did not approve the construction of the Yamei Daning project before, when the General Administration of Customs sent a letter asking about it, the National Development and Reform Commission was somewhat surprised in its reply on April 27, 2004: "According to the clear requirements of the former State Planning Commission 1999, the second-phase expansion project of Daning Coal Mine in Shanxi Province should be reported to our commission for approval by the Shanxi Development and Reform Commission; Considering the deviation of Shanxi Provincial Planning Commission's understanding of relevant documents and the fact that this project is a Sino-foreign cooperative project, in order to maintain the continuity of external work and maintain the external image, this project can be treated as a special case and agreed to maintain the approval documents of the original Shanxi Provincial Planning Commission for this project. In the future, similar projects must strictly implement relevant state regulations. "
This statement of the National Development and Reform Commission "is equivalent to recognizing the legitimacy of the project approval process at that time, and it is also equivalent to recognizing the illegal approval documents of the Shanxi Provincial Planning Commission." The above-mentioned insiders said.
Strange "tax avoidance"
Thailand's Wanpu gradually became the single shareholder of AACI, controlling the Asian-American Daning, but China was helpless.
A person familiar with the matter said, "Since the second half of 2000, the relationship between the two parties to the joint venture has been a bit stiff. Since the first and second chairmen are officials, the joint venture has a strong administrative color. Since He Guiyuan became the chairman of the joint venture company in 2003, the joint venture company has entered the right track of enterprise operation. "
However, from the joint venture to production, nine years have passed since Yamei Daning, far exceeding the planned investment return period of 6.58 years.
In fact, due to various factors such as operation and management, the budget of the joint venture company has been adjusted many times. In the process of additional investment by shareholders, AACI was able to enter AACI through overseas equity financing, and Thailand Wanpu gradually entered Daning Coal Mine.
In February, 200 1, 10, the joint venture company increased its capital for the first time, and its registered capital increased to USD 30 million, accounting for 40% of the total investment budget of USD 75 million, of which the contribution subscribed by AACI increased to USD16.8 million, accounting for 56% of the shares.
On May 12, 2004, shareholders of Yamei Daning made additional investment for the second time, and the registered capital increased to USD 53.6 million. In their report to the Shanxi Provincial Department of Commerce, they said that in the process of mine construction, due to the sharp rise in the prices of raw materials and finished equipment at home and abroad, as well as the engineering needs of building a 40 million-ton mine-shaped coal preparation plant, construction funds were short. Since then, the donation subscribed by AACI has increased to $30 million; The total investment of the project increased to $6543.8+$380 million.
In September 2007, Daning Coal Mine was just completed and put into production. At this time, Yamei Daning has missed the good opportunity of coal development in recent years, and the return on investment of four same coal mines of Orchid Group built in the same period has reached more than one billion yuan. Therefore, Orchid Group believes that AACI has no strength, and introducing AACI into Vampa, Thailand is a supplementary source of funds.
In June+10 of the same year, AACI registered a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong called Asia-America Continental (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Asia-America Hong Kong"), and proposed to the Chinese side to transfer its equity in the cooperative company to Asia-America Daning (Hong Kong) Holdings Company. AACI's reason is that the equity transfer is only to enjoy preferential tax treatment when the investment income is remitted in the future.
According to the provisions of the Joint Venture Contract, "if any party intends to transfer all or part of its equity in the registered capital of the joint venture company to its affiliated company, it still needs to obtain the written consent of the other party in advance, but the other party shall not refuse to make such consent without justifiable reasons. The other parties hereby waive the preemptive right. "
After legal investigation and consultation confirmed that Yamei Hong Kong was a subsidiary, Chinese shareholders agreed to transfer it on June 5438+065438+ 10, 2007. 65438+ At the end of February of the same year, Shanxi Provincial Department of Commerce approved the change of AACI's equity, and AACI completed the related transaction with Yamei Port.
According to informed sources, due to the implementation of the new tax law in 2008, in 2007, AACI decided to set up Asia-America Hong Kong in Hong Kong, considering the 5% tax preference in Hong Kong. However, this person does not deny that some shareholders of AACI are considering cashing out, because some investors are overseas funds and have been waiting for this project in Daning for seven years, which is a kind of torture for them who pay attention to the return on investment.
At the beginning of 2008, AACI began to reach a transfer intention with a company registered in Hong Kong, Fushan Energy (06390). HK)。 The transfer was strongly opposed by Chinese shareholders on the board of directors of the joint venture company, and finally Fushan Energy gave up the acquisition.
Subsequently, foreign investors traded shares in AACI. According to the announcement issued by Vampa in Thailand on June 6, 2008, the company purchased all the remaining shares of AACI for US$ 430 million, including the second and third resource funds (resource capital funds II&: III L, P), Evan Energy Investment LC and Asia Energy Holding LLC each hold 26. 1%, 16.5% and 20.3%, and other minority shareholders * * * hold 15.5%.
After the transaction, AACI became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vampa Company in Thailand. Thailand's Vampa has also become the actual controller of Yamei Daning. After the completion of the transfer, the Chinese side immediately called the shareholders of Chinese and foreign parties to hold the shareholders' meeting of the cooperative company, accusing the foreign party of depriving the Chinese shareholders of the preemptive right by fraudulent means.
However, in a letter sent to He Guiyuan on April 25, 2008, AACI said, "Thailand Wanpu, one of AACI's existing shareholders, proposed to pre-purchase the equity, which will only be an internal transaction between AACI shareholders. According to the relevant laws and regulations of our country, the internal share transfer of shareholders does not need to fulfill the notification obligation to the other party. AACI has no plans and will not sell shares to China shareholders. "
He Guiyuan has no choice. China's laws do not clearly stipulate whether it is necessary to notify the other party of the internal share transfer of shareholders, and there is no restriction on the change of the actual controller of the foreign shareholder in the terms of the joint venture contract.
"China has lost the best opportunity. When foreign capital is transferred, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Commerce may decide to give priority to the transfer of foreign equity to China. " The above-mentioned orchid group people think so.
As of the press release of the First Financial Reporter, Orchid Group has applied to the Shanxi Provincial Department of Commerce and the Shanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources, requesting the Shanxi Provincial Department of Commerce to revoke the approval of the equity change of Yamei Daning according to law, and Orchid Kechuang holds Yamei Daning; Shanxi Provincial Department of Land and Resources is required to handle the mining right of Daning Coal Mine for Orchid Group, and the mining right of Daning Coal Mine is transferred to the cooperative company by Orchid Group. According to public reports, Shanxi Coal Coke Anti-corruption Leading Group has paid attention to this case and has rushed to Jincheng to listen to reports from all parties on the equity dispute of Yamei Daning Coal Mine.
How high is the threshold for foreign resource exploitation?
China Business News: Wang Zhishuo (09/06/22 10:2 1)
America, Japan, etc. Emphasize the protection of domestic resources and environment, and set a higher threshold for foreign capital to develop domestic resources. The US 1872 Mineral Exploration Law stipulates that only American citizens and those who declare their intention to become American citizens are eligible for the right to public minerals, and foreigners are prohibited from owning American minerals and American land containing minerals.
Canada: There are no restrictions on foreign investors in emerging mining projects except uranium mines. If foreign investors want to invest in existing mining enterprises, they need to be audited by Industry Canada. The audit standard is mainly to see whether the investment enterprise has promoted the promotion of high technology and increased social employment opportunities.
Russia: On the basis of the production sharing agreement, mineral users can be foreign legal persons. However, the organizer of mineral resources auction has the right to restrict or prohibit foreign natural persons and legal persons from participating in the auction; For rare and strategic mineral projects, Russia is required to hold at least 50% of the shares, and the rest can be held by foreign investors.
Brazil: In terms of investment access, there are still some restrictions on foreign investment. Foreign capital can only engage in the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources with the authorization or consent of the federal government and in line with national interests, and must also be Brazilian or a company with headquarters and management institutions in Brazil according to Brazilian laws. The exploration, exploitation, refining, import and export of hydrocarbons, and ocean and pipeline transportation are carried out by the government. However, in addition to activities related to nuclear energy, the government can outsource these activities to state-owned or private companies.
India: For the exploration and mining projects of precious stones and diamonds, the Reserve Bank of India can automatically approve projects with a foreign shareholding ratio of 74% and a shareholding ratio of more than 74%, which must be reported to the Foreign Investment Promotion Bureau of India for approval. For coal and lignite projects, foreign direct investment can be automatically approved to reach 50%. But when it comes to public sector enterprises, these investments cannot exceed 49% of the shares of the public sector. For companies that explore and mine coal or lignite for general consumption, foreign direct investment can reach 74%. For Indian private companies that use coal or lignite to generate electricity, foreign direct investment can reach 100%, but it must be approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Bureau.
Australia: All foreign companies intending to do business in Australia must register with the Australian Securities Investment Agency. Foreign companies do not need to seek Australian companies to participate in mineral oil exploration activities in Australia. After obtaining the mineral oil exploration right, foreign companies can directly start exploration without the approval of the foreign investment management department. Under normal circumstances, investments with a total investment of 50 million to 654.38+0 billion Australian dollars will not be investigated in detail. The total investment of more than A $654.38 billion will be investigated in detail, but it will not be rejected unless it affects Australia's national interests. All investments made by foreign governments and agents will be investigated in detail, regardless of the amount of investment.