One of China's leading and top ranked steel group, Wuhan Iron & Steel, has received approval from the Australian Government on its proposal to invest A$271 Million ($247 Million) in Centrex Metals Ltd., the Australian iron ore developer.

The deal, which has been approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, will see Wuhan purchase 15% stake in Centrex and form a joint venture with the Australian company. In addition to jointly developing iron ore resources, Wuhan is all set to put in more capital into Centrex. The approval for this deal has followed a similar recent development under which China's Baosteel was given the nod to buy 15% stake in Australia's iron ore explorer Aquila Resources.

Post the approval market value of Centrex shares rose by 9.4% to A$ 0.70.

Although it has been noted that China's repeated attempts to buy its way into Australia's very lucrative resource market have negatively affected the relationship which the countries share, Chinese ambassador to Australia, Zhang Junsai, has confirmed that Australia and China have reached a compromise and have vowed to manage their differences in the best possible way.