China took a defiant stand on Friday at the annual iron ore talks with miners, rejecting a sharp rise in the price of the key commodity for making steel.

Beijing also warned that it would not “blindly follow” prices set in other importing countries such as Japan by miners Vale of Brazil, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. The opening salvo of the “benchmark” negotiations – in which traditionally the first deal between a miner and a steelmaker creates a yardstick followed by the rest of the industry – points to a second consecutive year of confrontation. The 2009-10 talks broke down in June after the miners tried to force Beijing to accept the same 33 per cent price cut agreed with other east Asian steel mills, while China demanded a 45 per cent reduction.