SHANGHAI - Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto plans to purchase one billion US dollars of commodities in China in 2011, a company official said Thursday in Shanghai.

Rio Tinto plans to purchase $14 billion in commodities this year, according to Scott Singer, the company's global purchase head.

Singer said that there is still a great deal of room for more purchases in China, as the company's 2011 China purchases will amount to less than ten percent of its global purchases.

Rio Tinto previously purchased $500 million' worth of commodities in China in 2010. The company has increased its variety of commodities purchased in China in correlation with its increasing purchase amounts, Singer said.

As Rio Tinto's largest single market, China contributes about one-fourth of Rio Tinto's annual income. The company's sales in China have jumped from $400 million in 2000 to $16.7 billion in 2010.