Rio Tinto Group, together with other multinationals led by an industry consortium, is advising the Chinese Government on a mineral resources law amendment, aiming to gain more access to mining activities in China.

The Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), which wants to renew the current mineral resources law, is collecting suggestions from a multinational mining company association called the China International Mining Group, whose members include Anglo American and BHP Billiton, a source told China Daily.

"We wish the government would create a more fair and reasonable investment environment for the foreign companies (which want to operate mining activities in China), through improving the current law," said the source, who declined to be named.

Under the current mineral resources law, which was last amended in 1996, foreign companies must undergo a long and complicated approval process to gain mining licences for commodities like gold and copper. The new amendment aims to make the mining policy in China fit more with the market economy, the source said.

"The government would like to come up with an improved version (of the mineral resources law) by 2008," the source added.

A senior expert from the MLR confirmed the ministry's intention to improve the law and added that China welcomes foreign investment in mining activities across the country.

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