China will step up the opening of its minerals sector to foreign investment while trying to make its legal framework more transparent, officials said Tuesday.

Relatively poor in base metals but boasting many of the world's reserves of rare metals, China has been trying to encourage foreign investment in the mining sector.

But while mining giants like Inco Ltd. and BHP Billiton are exploring in the country, investors have been generally cautious.

One area of concern has been the legal system, particularly on whether it ensures that a company that finds a quality deposit will be able to develop it.

"China will continue its policy of opening up to the outside world in the mineral resources sector," Sun Wencheng, minister of land and resources, told a conference in Beijing.

"We shall promote the process of reform by opening up and improving the overall efficiency and capacity of mineral development, further creating a stable, open and transparent legal and regulatory environment and protecting the legal rights of foreign investors in mineral exploration and development activities in China."

Sun said China would encourage greater cooperation between domestic firms and their global counterparts in mineral exploration and development.

China intends to create a level playing field and to focus on foreign companies coming in, as well as domestic companies investing overseas, said Ye Zhanghe, deputy director general of the department of foreign investment administration at the Ministry of Commerce.

Disclosure of geological data is one of the bottlenecks for development of the mining sector, he acknowledged.

Editor: Yan