A Chinese court will deliver its verdict on Monday in the sensitive trial of four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto, a case that has thrown a spotlight on the opaque Chinese steel industry.
Australian executive Stern Hu and three Chinese staff are charged with accepting bribes totalling around $US13 million ($A14.33 million) and stealing trade secrets. They risk sentences of up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
They were tried last week in a Shanghai court, which will deliver its verdict at 2pm (1700 AEDT).
Australia has said consular officials will be present.
Hu, the head of the Anglo-Australian miner's Shanghai office, and the three Chinese men - Wang Yong, Liu Caikui and Ge Minqiang - have pleaded guilty to taking money, and one admitted to commercial espionage, defence lawyers said.
But the accused dispute aspects of the charges, their lawyers said.
A prosecutor recommended Hu be given a lenient sentence after he apologised to the court and to Rio, saying he took more than $US900,000 ($A991,954) to help friends, his lawyer Jin Chunqing said.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said the world is watching the trial, which has been widely seen as a test of the rule of law in China and has raised questions about doing business in the world's third-largest economy.
The four were arrested last July during contentious iron ore contract talks between top mining companies and the steel industry in China, the world's largest consumer of the raw material. The talks collapsed.
At the three-day trial, the court heard evidence that millions of yuan in bribes had been stuffed into bags and boxes for the accused, according to state media.
Hu took money from small private steel companies, which before the global financial crisis were locked out of buying iron ore from Rio because the Anglo-Australian miner prioritised large state-run steel giants, Jin said.
When the global economic crisis hit in September 2008 demand for iron ore plummeted and the smaller players paid bribes "to squeeze into the club and join the buyers", he said.
Wang strongly objected to the bribery allegations, saying he simply borrowed the money from one of China's richest men, Du Shuanghua, the National Business Daily said.
Du, the former head of Shandong-based Rizhao Iron & Steel group, contradicted Wang's account during the trial, testifying he had paid the Rio employee $US9 million ($A9.92 million) for preferential treatment, the newspaper said.
