China ties good for everyone, says BHP boss Edgar Basto

BHP Minerals Australia president Edgar Basto has declared a ‘constructive relationship ­between Australia and China is in the interests’ of both nations and the Indo-Pacific region.

BHP Minerals Australia president Edgar Basto. Picture: Sarah Marshall

BHP Minerals Australia president Edgar Basto has declared a “constructive relationship ­between Australia and China is in the interests” of both nations and the Indo-Pacific region.

Mr Basto, who oversees BHP’s Australian operations, conceded the situation was “complex and it will take time to resolve”, but said it was critical for both sides to improve the situation.

Speaking to The Australian on the sidelines of Minerals Week at Parliament House, Mr Basto said “as a fundamental principle, positive trade relationships are a good thing”.

“It may sound obvious, but is important that we maintain strong bilateral partnerships with all our trading partners,” he said. “Most Australians understand that our country has gained from China’s incredible journey over the past two decades – indeed, most sectors in Australia have benefited in some way over the years – and that a constructive relationship ­between Australia and China is in the interests of both nations, and the region.”

With Beijing imposing ­restrictions on coal exports and threatening to source new iron ore markets, Mr Basto said BHP had maintained good relationships with customers in China and “continue to work well with them as we navigate this uncertain time”. “Even with the current tensions, I believe that both sides hold the relationship between Australia and China as important. We are hopeful that mutual interest will see diplomacy prevail,” he said.

In a speech launching Minerals Week on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese accused the Morrison government of “prioritising domestic political interests over Australia’s national interests”.

“Scott Morrison has no long-term strategy to deal with a changing China that is pressing its interests more assertively, while finding areas of potential co-operation, including on trade, that are in both our countries’ interests,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese said Australia needed “more strategy and less politics when it comes to managing our differences with China”.

Mining industry sources have previously told The Australian they believed the trade impacts of tensions with Beijing could last for several years, forcing major coal exporters to diversify markets to Japan, Korea, India and other countries.

Yancoal chief executive David Moult this week said the company hadn’t sold a single cargo of coal into China since September last year. The head of the low-cost coal producer, whose major shareholder is Chinese-owned Yanzhou Coal Mining Company, was reported by Mining Monthly as saying the coal market had “taken a dive”.