China stimulus unleashes ETF buying spree in US and Europe

October 10, 2024-A scramble for Chinese equities united the global investment industry last month, just as attitudes towards European and Japanese stock markets became heavily bifurcated along geographical lines.

Yet global investors were unified in their enthusiasm for Chinese stocks after the People's Bank of China unveiled a series of stimulus measures that included monetary easing, steps to support the country's crisis-hit property market and a Rmb800bn fund to boost the stock market, by lending to asset managers, insurers and brokers to buy equities and to listed companies to buy back their stock.

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New report examines how artificial intelligence may shape future of international trade

November 21, 2024--A new report published today (21 November) by the WTO Secretariat discusses the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on world trade. The report examines key trade-related policy considerations raised by this technology and discusses the critical role of the WTO in facilitating AI-related trade, ensuring trustworthy AI, and promoting global regulatory convergence.

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OECD GDP growth remains stable in the third quarter of 2024

November 21, 2024--"Gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD rose by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2024, slightly up from 0.4% in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates."
Gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD rose by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2024, slightly up from 0.4% in the previous quarter,1 according to provisional estimates (Figure 1).
The overall GDP growth rate for the G7 remained unchanged in Q3 2024, at 0.5%. This reflects a mixed picture among G7 countries. While growth in the United States remained stable in Q3 at 0.7%, it slowed in Canada and Japan (from 0.5% in Q2 to 0.2% in Q3 in both countries), the United Kingdom (from 0.5% to 0.1%) and Italy (from 0.2% to 0.0%).

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G20 Economies Should Target Reforms to Boost Medium-Term Growth Prospects

November 21, 2024--Improving fiscal policy frameworks, fostering education and skills, and supporting the green transition can help ensure strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth
For most Group of Twenty economies, growth is poised to weaken over the next five years and remain well below what was typical in the two decades before the pandemic.
That's one of the biggest shared challenges for the group, which accounts for about 85 percent of global gross domestic product.

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Report shows surge in G20 trade-restrictive measures amid increased unilateral policies

November 13, 2024--Trade restrictive measures introduced by G20 economies significantly increased in coverage over the past year, according to the 31st WTO Trade Monitoring Report on G20 trade measures issued on 13 November. Although G20 economies also continued to introduce wide-ranging trade facilitating measures, the report points to increasing evidence of inward-looking and unilateral trade policy decisions.

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