In a sign of Beijing’s anxiety over the fallout from the disappearance of flight MH370 it has drafted in an official with a reputation as China’s top troubleshooter to deal with the families of passengers lost in the air disaster.

Xiao Yaqing, 55, is better known to the international business community as the former head of Aluminum Corp of China, or Chinalco. In 2008 he presided over a dawn raid on global mining company Rio Tinto to block a proposed merger with BHP Billiton, which China feared would result in a global mining monopoly.

But on Tuesday he was the official sent to address the grieving families at a central Beijing hotel after their protest outside the Malaysian embassy was broken up. The protest had been triggered by the Malaysian authorities’ announcement that the aircraft ditched in the southern Indian Ocean with no survivors.