China is set to overtake Germany as the largest goods exporter this year, as Asia''s dynamic economies show signs of leading a recovery in global trade, the World Trade Organisation said yesterday.
 A WTO report repeated its forecast of a 10 per cent drop in world trade volumes this year – the biggest fall in 60 years. However, Pascal Lamy, its director-general, said the decline appeared to be slowing.
“Our figures showed that Asian countries may be leading a recovery in global trade,” Mr Lamy told reporters in Singapore where he was attending a meeting of trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum.
 Patrick Low, the WTO''s chief economist who was also in Singapore, said the weak European economic performance was likely to leave German exports lagging China''s this year.
 International financial institutions expect China to reap quicker trade benefits from a global upturn later this year that will be led by emerging economies.
 Last year, China''s merchandise exports of  $1,428bn (�1,004bn, £869bn) were only slightly behind Germany''s  $1,465bn, according to the WTO report.
 Meanwhile, China, which notched up year-on-year growth of nearly 8 per cent in the second quarter, remains the top destination for future foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a survey of investment prospects by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) released yesterday. The 240 multinationals that responded to the questionnaire put the US in second place, followed by the other so-called Bric economies – India, Brazil and Russia.

（Source: FTChinese.com  By Frances Williams in Geneva）