Chinese steel-maker Anshan Iron and Steel Group (Ansteel) Friday vowed to proceed with plans to invest in the United States, a day after a senior executive reportedly said it would suspend the deal in the face of U.S. political objections.

"Angang has never changed its mind in investing in the U.S.. We will push forward the steel project with our U.S. partner," said a statement from the company to Xinhua.

"Some reports said Angang will shelve or give up plans to invest in a U.S. steel plant, but this is not the case," he said.

Chen Ming, vice-chairman of Angang Steel Co. Ltd., the listed arm of Ansteel, was reported as saying in Hong Kong Thursday that Ansteel had decided to put its investment plan on hold because of U.S. lawmakers' opposition.

"Chen said the investment was still in negotiation and if it were put on hold or scrapped, this would not incur any loss," the statement said.

Angang would continue building mutually beneficial relationships with all partners at home and abroad, it said.

Ansteel signed an agreement in May to set up a joint venture with Mississippi-based Steel Development Co. and to build five plants in the United States, which would create jobs and increase tax revenues and local supplies, it said in July.

Angang has also said its investments in the U.S. and other regions were commercial and based on market demands and also attempts in international cooperation.

Fifty U.S. congressmen have requested that Washington investigate the deal. In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner early this month, the congressmen said the proposed joint venture threatened "American jobs" and "national security."

"The gains that American companies have achieved here depend on our continued commitment to fairness and reciprocity in the treatment of Chinese business," John Watkins, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in a commentary in the Wall Street Journal on Monday under the headline "Anshan's Deal is in American's Interest."

"Anshan is therefore important not only for the Chinese foreign direct investment flow, but also for the revenue of U.S. entities in China," he said in the article.