Beijing - Chinese state-owned aluminium producer Chinalco expressed disappointment Friday after Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd scrapped a
19.5-billion-dollar investment deal.

"We are very disappointed with this result," Chinalco General Manager Xiong Weiping said in a statement, after confirming the cooperation would not go ahead.

In February, Chinalco signed an agreement to invest 19.5 billion dollars in Rio Tinto to secure access to resources. It would have been the largest single foreign investment by a Chinese company to date.

Rio Tinto will now pay a break fee of 195 million dollars to the Chinese metals firm, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Despite losing the investment, Chinalco's Xiong Weiping said the company will continue to look for investment opportunities abroad.

"Although the transaction is not able to be implemented, Chinalco's strategic aim of building an international multi-metal mining company will not change," he said in the statement.

Rio Tinto said it was to form a joint venture with arch-rival BHP Billition Ltd instead.(dpa)