China's Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. has got an official approval to take over Australian coal mining company Felix Resources, according to the company's bulletin on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday.

The deal involving 3.3 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion) in a contractual agreement reached by the two companies in August would be the largest of its kind between Chinese and Australian firms.

Yanzhou Coal said in the bulletin that the National Commission of Development and Reform has approved the company's bid to take over 100 percent of the stake in Felix.

The company said that after the takeover of Felix, it will obtain an approved coal reserve of 1.5 billion tons in Australia. Its annual coal output in Australia is expected to exceed 10 million tons, accounting for one third of the company's production in China.

Yanzhou Coal, headquartered in east China's Shandong Province, is listed on stock exchanges in Hong Kong, New York and Shanghai. It owns Austar Coal Mine in Australia, and mines in north China's Shanxi Province and Shandong Province, according to information on the company's website.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2009)