China bought a 14.99% shareholding in Rio's London-listed company, which equates to an interest of around 11% in the whole group which includes the Australian listed firm.
Fosun International also owns stakes in U.S.-listed Chindex, a hospital management company focused on China, and Focus Media, an outdoor advertising company.
Unicom's edge is that it is the only listed integrated telecommunication company in China, with wireless, paging, domestic long distance and Internet divisions.