China stimulus ‘could boost growth Down Under’

BEIJING

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Sept. 27 welcomed Beijing's new stimulus efforts aimed at boosting its flagging economy, noting growth in China had a knock-on effect in his country.

Speaking on the second day two of a visit to the Chinese capital, Chalmers told a news conference that Australia had a "lot at stake" in its ties with its largest trading partner.

"We are very pleased to see these additional steps being signaled by the Chinese government in order to boost economic activity and boost growth here in China," he said.

"What happens here and what is decided here has big consequences for our own economy, our own workers and businesses and investors, and for our country more broadly," he explained.

Beijing this week acknowledged "problems" in the world's second-largest economy and unveiled a raft of measures aimed at getting it back on track.

Chalmers arrived in Beijing on Sept. 26 for the first trip by an Australian treasurer in seven years.

Trade ties between the two countries have gradually improved under a new government in Canberra.

In June, Chinese Premier Li Qiang declared relations were "on the right track" as they moved on from a bitter economic dispute that saw Beijing impose trade barriers worth billions of dollars on Australian coal, timber, wine, barley, beef and rock lobster.

Most of these have since been dismantled.