The West Australian Government has been left walking a fine line in navigating the state's economic reliance on China in the midst of a trade war and rising security tensions between the superpower and the United States.

Key points: A warning on China from Liberal Andrew Hastie sparked criticism from the Premier

A warning on China from Liberal Andrew Hastie sparked criticism from the Premier China is WA's biggest trading partner by far, taking almost half of its total exports

China is WA's biggest trading partner by far, taking almost half of its total exports Experts say WA's commercial relationship with China may not be possible in future

China has been WA's largest trading partner for the past 13 years, with half of the state's exports going there. WA exports more goods to China than all the other states and territories combined.

On the flip side, Chinese visitors were also WA's largest spenders in 2018.

Tensions flared yesterday after the head of Federal Parliament's intelligence committee, WA Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, warned China's ambitions could threaten Australia's freedom.

In the piece, he compared the handling of China's rise to the failure to contain the advance of Nazi Germany and said the nation needed to acknowledge the challenges ahead otherwise "choices will be made for us".

Mr Hastie made the comments, reflecting some of the most serious condemnations of China made by any Morrison Government member, in an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald.

WA Premier Mark McGowan accused Mr Hastie of damaging the state's relationship with China.

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"China is a good friend of Western Australia and our largest trading partner," Mr McGowan tweeted.

"25 per cent of the WA economy is based on our trade with China.

"I urge members of the Liberal Party to stop damaging the relationship and threatening WA jobs with extreme and inflammatory language."

WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt said he believed the state had the balance right in managing its trade relationship with China.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt says WA has to tread carefully in its relationship with China. ( ABC News: Benjamin Gubana )

"The Australian economy is very dependent on the relationship with China, Western Australia in particular," he said.

"Now we'll have to walk some pretty fine lines, and the Commonwealth Government has a much tougher role to play with issues around foreign affairs.

"But we do have to walk that fine line and I don't think this sort of commentary is particularly helpful.

"I suspect [it will also] make the Prime Minister's life a lot harder as he tries to manage the relationship.

"Where there are issues of potential national security, of course we rely on the information we get from our national security arrangements."

Numbers show WA's China export dominance

China has been WA's largest trading partner since 2006, with 50 per cent of all the state's exports going to China, the majority of that being iron ore.

A total of 61 per cent of all Australian exports to China come from WA, with Queensland the next biggest exporter with 21 per cent.

The rest of the country combined makes up about 17 per cent.

With the State Government focussing on tourism as a way to diversify the economy, China is also a key target there.

Chinese visitors were WA's largest spenders in 2018, accounting for 12 per cent of the total international visitor spend.

The WA Government is currently trying to secure direct flights to Perth from Shanghai to further unlock the country's tourism potential.

Change in China creates 'difficult balance' for WA

University of Western Australia political science Professor Benjamin Reilly said the state's economic dependence on China left it more at risk than others from the rising tensions.

"Western Australia is more exposed than most other states because of our reliance on China for iron ore," he said.

"The royalties from iron ore sales alone are in the realm of $3–4 billion a year, and if you add in the tax revenue that comes back through the GST you're looking at probably a fifth or even a quarter of the entire revenue for the state [which] comes from this one industry, one sector and one country," he said.

"So in that sense WA is very dependent. [Although] in other ways we're less dependent than other states, less exposed, because we have fewer Chinese international students than most of the east coast states."

Professor Reilly said it was a tricky situation for the WA Government to manage.

Almost half of WA's exports go to China, the majority of that being iron ore. ( Supplied: Rio Tinto/Christian Sprogoe Photography )

"Western Australia has had the good fortune and misfortune to have the iron ore sales to China explode over the last decade," he said.

"But that same period has been when the Chinese Government has turned away from the more liberal and open agenda that it had towards a more authoritarian crackdown at home and in terms of its behaviour abroad

"So it's been a difficult balance for the WA Government because as our iron ore sales have increased, so has the autocratic, belligerent and frankly aggressive behaviour of the Chinese Government."

UWA professor Benjamin Reilly says WA's relationship with China may not be sustainable. ( ABC News: Alisha O'Flaherty )

Professor Reilly said the state's trade relationship would also have played on the minds of the WA Government as it navigated its deal with Chinese tech company Huawei to supply communications technology for WA's public transport system.

"I think the WA Government and West Australian politicians have handled this relationship pretty well," he said.

"I mean it's essentially a commercial relationship — we're a state, foreign affairs is a matter for the Federal Government.

"But there may come a time where this relationship is not possible to be run purely on commercial lines, and I have to say most of the reason for that is the changing behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party."