China's dip in economic growth projections is a concern for Australia's commodity industry but the major trading partner will continue to flourish, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.
The global financial crisis was crippling markets around the world and had affected China, Mr Rudd said on Wednesday.
He spoke with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao two days ago about the country's annual growth projections, which he estimated had slipped from a lofty 12 per cent to about nine per cent.
China is a major consumer of Australian commodities, but Mr Rudd would not speculate if prices would drop.
"China has a huge impact on the economies of the east Asia region, as well as the global economy," Mr Rudd told Fairfax Radio on Wednesday.
"My understanding is that China will continue to drive strong economic growth for its own national purposes, but that's also good for countries like Australia because China is such a major trading partner of ours."
Mr Rudd said commodity prices around the world were being affected by the global economic crisis and his government was keen to expand trade with China.
He declined to speculate on how Australia's economy would fair in the current crisis but said tough decisions would lie ahead.
"It's going to be tough, there will be bumps along the road and some hard decisions will have to be made. Some of them won't be popular," he said.
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