China man denied a bite of Iceland

Ögmundur Jónasson,Icelands interior minister,rejected the application by Huang Nubo,one of Chinas richest men,on Friday,saying it breached rules on investments by non-European groups. To make an exception of the law in this case would set a dangerous precedent,he told The Financial Times.

Jónasson,who vetoed the bid against the wishes of some of his government colleagues,has previously warned of the international ramifications of Chinese land purchases around the world. The land that Huang had wanted to buy is close to Icelands deepwater ports,and amounts to 0.3 per cent of the countrys land mass raising security concerns from some Icelandic officials.

In an interview in September,Huang told the FT that Icelandic opposition would send a negative signal to other Chinese investors. Other Chinese groups will see this and be worried, he had said.

Huang could not immediately be reached for comment.

Huang worked for the Chinese Communist Partys propaganda department and Chinas construction ministry before founding his tourism business in the early 1990s. His bid had the tacit backing of Icelands president and its foreign and economics ministries,but it is up to the interior ministry to rule on such deals.