The trial of Stern Hu and three other Rio Tinto employees – detained nine months ago and later charged with stealing commercial secrets and taking bribes in China – will begin on Monday in Shanghai.

The outcome of the trial is eagerly awaited by companies operating in China amid concerns over the security of foreign nationals.

The case has strained relations between Canberra and Beijing as well as complicating the already contentious round of pricing negotiations between iron ore suppliers and Chinese steelmakers.

Mr Hu, an Australian citizen who was the Anglo-Australian mining group's chief China-based iron ore negotiator, and his three colleagues were detained in Shanghai in July, initially on the more serious allegations of espionage and stealing state secrets.

The charges were downgraded and, after an investigation of more than four months, the case was sent to China's state prosecutors in January.

Mr Hu and the Chinese citizens – Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong – will be represented by legal counsel.

If convicted, the four face a fine and a maximum jail term of seven years on each charge, subject to a total of 20 years.

They would have faced the death penalty if convicted of violating China's state secrets laws, which are frequently used to silence critics of the regime.

Canberra said yesterday that its consular officials would be able to attend court sessions dealing with the bribery charges. But its officials had been denied access by the court to sessions examining the alleged theft of commercial secrets. The Australian government said that it wanted access to the closed sessions and had asked the Chinese authorities to reconsider that decision.

The trial will coincide with a trip to China by Tom Albanese, Rio's chief executive. He is scheduled to address the China Development Forum in Beijing on Monday.

Rio has attempted to rebuild relations with China in the months since its employees were detained.

The miner's relationship with the country soured in June when it abandoned a proposed $19.5bn investment deal with Chinalco, a state-owned aluminium company.

This week it emerged that Rio and Chinalco were in late-stage talks to jointly develop a large-scale iron ore deposit in Guinea in the first of several moves aimed at healing relations.

Rio said yesterday that it was aware of the trial to hear formal charges against its four Shanghai employees, to be held at Shanghai Number One Intermediate Court from Monday. “Rio Tinto reiterates its hope for a transparent and expeditious process for its employees,” it said.