The head of Australian minerals giant BHP Billiton is cautiously optimistic that China's economic situation will improve in the months ahead, but warned global economic recovery will be slow and protracted.

Chief executive Marius Kloppers told a minerals conference in Canberra on Wednesday it would be another six months before there were clear signs of the true situation for the company's markets in China and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Kloppers said there were a few reasons for optimism in China, including early signs about growth, loan activity and in the construction and real estate sectors.

"If all of these trends continue in the second quarter they will give us some reason to be cautiously optimistic," he said.

Kloppers stressed the need for caution because there were still issues around Chinese exports, adding the company did not expect in the medium term a sharp return to overall economic activity.

"We probably believe as a company the economic recovery will be both slow and protracted," he said. "The best we can say in the medium term is that conditions remain uncertain."

In the U.S., there was still a downside risk with unemployment remaining a problem. The economies of Europe, especially the U.K. and Germany, were still a worry, and Japan was weak.

Source: Xinhua