Yuxiao Fund and four associates with ties to Chinese conglomerates will be forced to reduce their shareholdings in Northern Minerals, a strategic rare earths miner, after the government decided the purchase was not in “our national interest”.

The Australian Financial Review reported in November that Singapore-registered Yuxiao was close to major Chinese groups including China Northern and Shenghe Resources. At the time, Northern Minerals’ former chief executive Nick Curtis raised suspicious share trading and requested the Foreign Investment Review Board investigate last year.