Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest has condemned the naysayers who have declared China's and Australia's economic boom is all but over.
The mining billionaire said China was growing at a faster rate than it ever had.
A slowdown from double-figure annual percentage rises to below eight per cent in the last year has prompted many economists to warn that Australia's non-mining sector must urgently lift and that the boom is over.
However, Mr Forrest says 7.5 per cent growth in China in 2013 is larger than a higher percentage would have been in the past because the country's economy is so much bigger now.
"It's off a huge base now so the volumetric growth is bigger than it's ever been and that's great for Australia," he told ABC TV.
He hit out at economists who say they don't believe China's official economic data figures, saying the nation's leadership had called their growth levels and plans accurately for 20 years.
"Western commentators talk their economy up and down, it's boom or bust and it sells newspapers or radio space but that's not for responsible economic management," he said.
The Pilbara region miner Mr Forrest founded and chairs, Fortescue Metals Group, has enjoyed a meteoric rise since being founded a decade ago to become the world's fourth largest iron ore producer.
However, the company had a scare last year when the iron ore price plunged, threatening its growth plans, although it managed to refinance its massive debt.
Mr Forrest said he was not worried about future iron ore demand, pointing to the 700 cities in China and estimating half of them would need urban railway systems requiring steel and therefore imported Australian iron ore.
"You need 30,000 tonnes of steel for 1km of rail and 50,000 tonnes of Australian iron ore," he said.
A recent US TV report suggested China was building dozens of entire cities that were empty because nobody wanted to live there raising fears of a property bubble bursting.
However Mr Forrest said while empty cities made for good photos the Chinese government was bound to overshoot because it was managing annual economic growth equal to the size of Australia.
"China has a billion people that want a standard of living not a lot different to yours and mine ... they're working hard for it and they will eventually attain it," he said.
