"Rio Tinto has been trying to buy more materials and services in China, as we are selling a lot into China and we really think that we can get a lot of value from here," he said.

"We are expanding our procurement into China and we are putting a lot of effort into finding exactly the right suppliers and developing the long-term partnership. We have much more procurement presence in China than we used to have, simply because it benefits the company."

According to Stausholm, Rio Tinto has been investing heavily in R&D projects related to reducing carbon emissions of current steelmaking processes as well as technologies for steelmaking in the future.

It signed an agreement with State-owned Baowu, the world's top steelmaker, last year to explore a range of industry-leading projects in China and Australia that will help decarbonize the steel value chain.

This is in addition to cooperation with Tsinghua University over the past decade on a joint research center to deliver leading research findings and policy proposals in sustainable development.

The potential of steel decarbonization in China presents massive opportunities for global mining companies like Rio Tinto, and the company is committed to broadening cooperation with China beyond trade to exploration, joint ventures, and research and development for low-carbon solutions along the steel value chain, Stausholm added.