Rio Tinto sees more growth in China

SYDNEY: Latest indicators on China’s economy point to continued growth through next year, according to mining giant Rio Tinto Group, which counts the world’s No. 2 economy as its biggest customer.

“Are we concerned about the Chinese economic health? The answer is no,” said chief executive officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques yesterday, here. “The indications are positive for 2018 as well, but it’s early days.”

He revealed he visited the nation five times in the past nine months.

Rio Tinto, which had about 200 employees in Shanghai and Beijing assessing data on China, last week reviewed the outlook for the next year’s economy, said Jacques.

“The only concern I would have, which is not about China by the way, it’s more a geopolitical issue, is if there was to be a big shock in the system.”

Growth in China unexpectedly picked up to 6.9 per cent in the first quarter, clocking its first back-to-back acceleration in seven years, as industrial output advanced and factory prices surged. Analysts projected faster economic expansion in each of the next four quarters in a Bloomberg survey from April 1825, compared with forecasts in the March poll.

Rio generates about 43 per cent of revenue in China. Bloomberg