MELBOURNE, May 18 (Reuters) – Australia Treasurer Jim Chalmers said ‌on Monday he had ‌issued orders for six shareholders to ​divest their holdings in Northern Minerals, following concerns that Chinese parties had tried to ‌cake control ⁠of the rare earths miner.

The decision, made ⁠after advice from the Treasury and Australia’s Foreign Investment ​Review Board, ​aims to ​protect the ‌country’s national interest and to ensure compliance with its foreign investment framework, Chalmers said in a statement.

“We operate a ‌robust and non-discriminatory ​foreign investment framework, ​and ​will take further action ‌if required to ​protect our ​national interest in relation to this matter,” he said ​in ‌the statement.

(Reporting by Alasdair ​Pal in Sydney; Editing ​by Himani Sarkar)