BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) said Wednesday a report that it has pulled western staff out of its offices in China over fears of a state crack down in the iron ore sector is incorrect.

The Australian Financial Review reported that some Australian employees of BHP and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) had now moved out of China in the wake of the detention of four Rio Tinto iron ore employees over allegations of stealing state secrets.

A spokeswoman for BHP said the report wasn't true and that the company's foreign staff were operating as normal in China.

"We don't differentiate between our Chinese staff and our western staff based in China," she said.

"All our people are continuing to work in the Shanghai office as normal."

Rio Tinto wasn't immediately available for comment.

-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2094; alex.wilson@dowjones.com