 Much of the economic development in the 1960s and 1970s was sponsored by Japanese investors, especially in the iron-ore sector, while American and British investment remained centred in the pastoral, agricultural and construction sectors.From the 1990s China emerged as a major market for WA goods and as a potential investor.State and federal government of major public works continued despite some evidence of local maladministration during the "WA Inc" years of the late 1980s.