World trade in a rapid dive - World Bank economist

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World trade has taken a dramatic turn for the worse as the global economic slowdown cuts into consumer demand and the cost of trade finance has shot up, a World Bank economist said on Thursday.

"Things are moving quite rapidly in the wrong direction," Bernard Hoekman, director of the international trade department at the World Bank, said in a speech to the Washington International Trade Association.

Chinese government data showing Chinese imports and exports fell in November was "worse than expected," Hoekman said.

(Editing by Tom Hals)