Sharp China slowdown is a big risk but we're diversifying, says BHP CFO AN unexpected slowdown in China is the biggest risk to BHP's fortunes, the miner's chief financial officer told a conference in Sydney. Speaking at a Bloomberg conference, Graham Kerr said that: "The biggest risk is clearly from our perspective what happens in China and around the developing worlds, but predominantly in China." At what rate of growth does that continue to happen and at what trajectory does that happen. He said that BHP expected China's growth rate to move toward 6 per cent after the next few years. "Their moderated growth is around the 7 per cent to 8 per cent mark for the next couple of years ... I don't expect the double-digit growth rates to continue," he told the conference. The world's biggest miner planned to gradually diversify its revenue toward coal, copper, oil and gas, which were less China-dependent, Mr Kerr said. China consumes about 60 per cent of the world's total iron ore output, which is mainly sourced from Australia. Iron-ore prices tumbled last year to a three-year low last September as Chinese steel producers began to slow steel production due to lower-than-expected Chinese economic growth, although the price has since recovered. `"We are not the iron ore-only company," Mr Kerr said. Iron ore mining will still be "highly profitable" even if the price fell, he added, as he stressed the importance of controlling costs and boosting productivity in order for BHP to stay competitive. Mr Kerr said BHP planned to cut $1.9 billion in costs this financial year, and that he anticipated the Australian dollar would remain high. "In reality, the government has few levers to pull," he said in reference to Australia's ability to influence the currency's strength. Responding to a question suggesting that BHP had not returned sufficient profit to investors, Mr Kerr said BHP had returned $57 billion to shareholders in buybacks or dividends over the past 10-and-a-half years. The BHP CFO also dismissed arguments that BHP had brought too much iron ore to market, undermining global prices, arguing that other mines around the world would have provided the mineral instead. Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of commodities supplier Glencore, warned last month that production growth by the big miners including BHP could contribute to an oversupply of resources and eventually push prices down. The big miners have been excoriated by investors recently, after a series of multi-billion dollar writedowns in ill-fated projects, and in the past few months Rio Tinto and Anglo American have ousted their CEOs, while Marius Kloppers announced his departure from BHP amid fevered speculation about his tenure. BHP's new chief executive, Andrew Mackenzie, has said that cost-cutting and productivity improvements were his priority.