The World Trade Organization has revised its 2016 global trade forecast downward by more than one percentage point, warning that a slowdown in China and broad market volatility continued to threaten growth. In September, the WTO estimated that global trade would rise by 3.9 per cent this year, but lowered that projection to 2.8 per cent, in an updated forecast.

The WTO listed “a sharper-than-expected slowing in China (and) worsening financial market volatility” as factors that could further suppress global trade this year. The organisation predicted that global trade would tick upwards by 3.6 per cent in 2017, on the back of increased demand for imported goods in Asia.

WHO

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization which regulates international trade.
• The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
• The WTO deals with regulation of trade between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments