The Rio Tinto case will not and should not hurt trade and economic ties between China and Australia, Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying said on Wednesday.

He was speaking after China's Supreme People's Procuratorate on Tuesday announced the arrest of four employees of the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto on charges of stealing commercial secrets and bribery.

The four were Stern Hu, an Australian citizen of Chinese origin, and three Chinese -- Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong -- who all worked in the company's Shanghai office when they were detained on July 5.

"This is an isolated judicial case," Fu said at a press conference.

China was ruled by law and the judicial decision in the case would undoubtedly be fair, said Fu.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)