The chairman of Chinalco, China’s state aluminium producer, defended his company’s bid to double its stake in Rio Tinto, saying the collapse of the deal last week was “totally out of our control”.

Xiong Weiping told reporters that Chinalco had already agreed to significant amendments to the terms of the original $19.5bn deal, which was signed in February, and that he was confident the company would have been able to satisfy the concerns of shareholders and federal regulators in Australia.