Media Thread, page-133

He acknowledged there had been economic headwinds and defended the government's decision not to inject more typical stimulus measures into the economy.

"Looking back at 2023 we can see that as we faced an array of interwoven difficulties and challenges, China's economy grew in a wave-like fashion amid twists and turns … our achievements did not come easily," Mr Li said.

"Risks and potential dangers in real estate, local government debt and small and medium financial institutions were acute in some areas.

"We refrained from resorting to a deluge of stimulus policies or strong short-term stimulus measures, and made greater efforts to promote high-quality development."

By "high-quality development", the premier was referring to industries such as artificial intelligence and electric vehicles, which he pointed out, China is already excelling in.

"China accounted for over 60 per cent of global electric vehicle output and sales," he said.

Dominic Meagher, deputy director and chief economist at the John Curtin Research Centre, said these goals would have mixed impacts on Australian exports to China.

"The iron ore sector is very dependent on housing and construction, and that's not doing well at all in China," he said.

"The big new catchphrase is new quality productivity. That's not exactly going to do a huge amount in the construction sector … but that's more focused on advanced technologies — scientific sectors, a lot on renewable energy and batteries, electric cars, they're really trying to encourage growth in those areas.

"That's not necessarily fantastic news for our traditional exports, it's potentially quite good news for the education sector and rare earth minerals."