Chilean leader pins hopes on China President Sebastián Piñera of Chile, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, puts more stock in China's continued rise than in Europe and the US returning to strong growth. "It will not be a joyous 2013 for the world economy," Mr Piñera told the Financial Times in an interview in London. Despite a strong record of about six per cent annual growth in gross domestic product during his two and a half years in office, he said: "We are very dependent on the international economy. . . We will be affected if [the global crisis] gets worse or lasts too long. Mr Piñera is confident, however, in the mainstay of the Chilean economy - copper exports. China's planned shift from investment to consumption-driven growth will not significantly reduce the demand for Chilean copper, he says. That should protect the fast growth maintained by his own country and other resource-rich emerging economies, even though Europe faces "a very tough year" in 2013 and "the US will not recover fast, as they have done in the past." Together with Peru and Colombia, Chile is one of South America's fastest-growing countries and an important part of the trade ties that are growing ever stronger across the Pacific. Much of this trade involves commodity exports to China. In Chile, "everything is vulnerable to China - it is our largest customer," said Mr Piñera. While he expects China to continue decelerating, he does not worry that the power transition in his largest trading partner and an expected rebalancing of the Chinese economy will bring an end to the copper export boom. The change will be "marginal." He pointed to the interest of Wen Jiabao, China's outgoing prime minister who visited Chile earlier this year, in establishing long-term pricing for Chilean copper. His government has lowered its expected revenues from the mining sector. But "there will not be a big change in Chinese demand for copper. My own expectation is that the copper price will go down, but will always stay above $3 [per pound]. The Chilean leader was less upbeat about the prospects for the economies on either side of the Atlantic. Fresh from meetings with senior European officials, Mr Piñera described the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission as "very optimistic with not very good reasons." Still, he does not believe that the euro will disintegrate. "I think the eurozone will survive," he said. I have heard such strong commitment by President Hollande [of France] and Chancellor Merkel [of Germany] to keep Greece in the euro. "And the markets agree with me," added the businessman turned politician. Spreads have come down. Additional reporting by Jack Farchy and Jonathan Wheatley in London