Australian treasurer won't say if he was stopping China sale

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s treasurer on Wednesday declined to comment on whether he had intended to block a Chinese state-owned company’s takeover of an Australian-based construction company in a development likely to increase strain on bilateral relations.

China State Construction Engineering Corp., one of the world's biggest construction companies, had planned to buy South African-owned and Sydney-based Probuild for 300 million Australian dollars ($233 million).

But Probuild’s owner, Wilson Bayly Holmes, told the Johannesburg Stock Exchange this week that the Chinese suitor had withdrawn its offer because Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would have blocked the sale.

“WBHO has been advised by the potential acquirer of Probuild that it has withdrawn its proposed investment application in Probuild lodged with the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board following advice that its application would be rejected by the Federal Government on the grounds of national security,” the parent company’s statement said.

Frydenberg declined to comment on the potential sale.

“The government does not comment on the application of the foreign investment screening arrangements as they apply or could apply to particular cases,” Frydenberg said in a statement.

China and Australia are major trading partners, but their ties markedly worsened last year when Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

One of China’s top grievances with Australia is Frydenberg’s decision in August to block the $430 million sale of Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings’ Australian beverage unit to Chinese company China Mengniu Dairy Co.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Tuesday described Australian interference in...