'The boom in global mineral and energy markets has propelled WA's economic development. With its rich abundance of natural resources, WA has been well placed to cash in on China's surging demand for raw materials,' the CCI notes.

The explosive growth of the sector in response to the mainland's demand for raw materials was not foreseen in 2005, say analysts, when it was forecast that the value of the resources and energy sector would rise to some A$50billion by 2015.

In fact that figure was surpassed last year when the nominal value of WA's mineral and energy exports stood at A$54.1billion - more than half of Australia's total exports of minerals and energy in 2007 - and accounted for 68.6per cent of the state's total exports. And there is no sign that the growth will end any time soon, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (Abare), the country's largest applied economics research centre.

'Despite the economic slowdown in the United States, continued strong performance in the emerging market economies, particularly China and India, should provide support for higher commodity demand and export shipments,' Abare's executive director Phillip Glyde forecast at an Abare economic outlook conference in March.

The conference heard that another record year was on the cards for Australia's commodity exports which were forecast by Abare to increase to a record A$189billion in 2008-09 - 30 per cent higher than forecast for 2007-08; with the value of mineral resources exports taking the lion's share with a forecast A$153billion in export values for 2008-09 - a rise of 33 per cent from a forecast A$115billion in 2007-08.

Speaking at the same conference, Yiping Huang, managing director and head of Asia-Pacific economic and market analysis at Citigroup, said that the mainland and the rest of the Asian economies were expected to be resilient to weaker economic growth in the United States.