BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) said Thursday that it expects to start exporting uranium to China in the near future.

"Obviously, we see China as a growing market for us and we would expect to have sales to them in the near future," said Dean Della Valle, chief operating officer of BHP's Australian uranium unit.

When pressed on a time frame, he said the miner's Olympic Dam operation in South Australia state will start exports to China "within a year."

-By Stephen Bell, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 61-8-9244-4243; sgbell@bigpond.com