China’s largest steelmaker publicly raised the possibility on Tuesday of launching a counter-bid for Rio Tinto, the mining group that has received a $133bn takeover proposal from rival BHP Billiton.

Any bid for Rio Tinto by a Chinese company is likely to trigger a political backlash in Australia, location of the Anglo-Australian company’s coveted iron ore assets. The country last month elected Kevin Rudd, a Sinophile, as prime minister, but has in the past blocked foreigners from acquiring flagship energy assets.