BHP Billiton Ltd has acknowledged that the global economy is on its way to recovery but the giant resources company maintained that spots of fragility still exists as it added that encouraging economic prospects in Asia give the mining firm a positive outlook for more growth in the years to come.

BHP Billiton chair Jac Nasser said on Wednesday that improvements have been happening indeed despite the slowdowns seen in China lately though he stressed that "we continue to believe that the fundamentals driving Asian growth are robust and it is clear to the board that the long-term outlook for BHP Billiton is strong."

In its annual report, Mr Nasser said that in line with the company's pursuit of further growth and expansion, BHP is firmly committed to become a new corporate citizen of Canada where the giant mining company is monitoring the development of its hostile $US40 billion or $A41.98 billion takeover bid for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

That solid determination was all the more supported by BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers, who recently declared that once the rival bid for Potash Corp by Chinese companies gained traction and became successful, it would lead to considerable declines on government revenues for Canada.

Reports said that Mr Kloppers informed Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper that if a state-owned Chinese companies were allowed to control Potash Corp, it would be inevitable that the new entity would work for the softening of fertiliser price, which is Potash's main offering.

Analysts said that the pronouncement made by BHP would make sense, considering that Potash Corp is world's biggest producer of potash, a plant fertiliser, while China on the other hand is currently one of the biggest importers of the product.

Meanwhile, Beijing has expressed concern on the possibility that a single entity would be in control of a big chunk of the country's importation requirements in the event that BHP Billiton ended up to become a majority owner of Potash Corp.

The world's largest mining company currently supplies considerable commodity products to China and it may soon be adding up potash as another of BHP's exports to the giant Asian economy.

As of 1412 AEST on Wednesday, BHP Billiton shares were trading at $38.89, further gaining 17 cents from previous trading sessions.