Text of China crime charge faced by Rio Tinto staff

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has formally arrested four employees of the mining multinational Rio Tinto on suspicion of violating commercial secrets concerning the country's steel industry.

The four, including Australian national Stern Hu, were arrested under Article 219 of China's Criminal Code, concerning commercial secrets. Here is the text of that Article:

"Whoever engages in one of the following activities involving commercial secrets and brings significant losses to persons possessing the rights to those commercial secrets is to be sentenced to not more than three years of fixed-term imprisonment ... and may additionally or exclusively be sentenced to a fine; or in especially serious cases is to be sentenced to not less than three years and not more than seven years of fixed-term imprisonment and a fine:

"(1) acquiring a rightful owner's commercial secrets by theft, luring with promises of gain, threats, or other improper means;

"(2) disclosing, using, or allowing others to use a rightful owner's commercial secrets acquired through the above-mentioned means;

"(3) disclosing, using, or allowing others to use, in violation of an agreement with the rightful owner or the rightful owner's request of maintaining the commercial secrets, the commercial secrets held.

"The commercial secrets referred to in this article are technical information and operational information unknown to the public that can bring economic gains to their rightful owners ... and are kept as secrets by their legitimate owners."