MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) Chief Executive Tom Albanese said Monday he still sees opportunities for the company to cooperate with Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco.
Rio Tinto's relationship with China has been under pressure after it walked away from a planned US$19.5 billion alliance with Chinalco earlier this year and after Chinese authorities detained four of Rio's employees.
Albanese noted that investigations into allegations against the employees had been extended by a month and said the company respected the Chinese legal system.
"We still do not know what, if any, charges may be laid," he said.
Albanese said China is now Rio Tinto's biggest customer and a personal focus for him in the coming year will be to strengthen the company's relationship with China.
-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2094; alex.wilson@dowjones.com