China's business press carried the following stories on Thursday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Two more employees face charges over Rio Tinto case—National Business Daily

Two more employees at Laiwu Steel and Shougang Co. were charged with stealing trade secrets and accepting bribes, according to people briefed on the issue.

This follows the Chinese prosecutor's indictment against an Australian citizen and three Chinese employees of the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto on February 10.

Wang Hongjiu, boss of the marine shipping division of Laiwu Steel International Group and Tan Yixin, general manager of Shougang Mining Import-Export Company, have been detained for involvement in the Rio Tinto Case.

The prosecutor has not yet set a trial date.

Hebei Steel mulls purchase of local steel mill—China Securities Journal

China's major steel company Hebei Iron & Steel Group is in talks with Hong Kong-based conglomerate CITIC Pacific to buy a subsidiary of the latter, Shijiazhuang Iron and Steel Co., according to a source from Hebei Steel.

The result of the talks is likely to be announced in a month, the source added.

Shijiazhuang Iron and Steel, located in Hebei province, specializes in the production of steel used in automobiles and has an annual capacity of 1.84 million tons.

CITIC Pacific paid 1.478 billion yuan (US$216 million) for a 65 percent stake in Shijiangzhuang Iron and Steel in November, 2005, while the local state-owned assets regulator and the steel firm's management held a 20 percent and 15 percent respectively.

Executive pay at listed companies soars—Securities Times

248 of 255 listed companies which have issued annual reports granted a 768 million yuan, or a 22.94 percent rise in pay for executives in 2009, a year that saw the most listed companies reap windfalls, as the figures in the report show.

The executives' purses were inflated largely by the robust performance of their companies on the stock market last year.

Up to yesterday, a total of 255 listed companies have issued their annual report, 248 of which reported a combined net profit of 48.093 billion yuan (US$7.07 billion), a 26.89 percent rise year-on-year.