Affected by significant oversupply issues, China’s real estate and industrial sectors have been the hardest hit (World Bank 2016b). As it is a major player in the global market, a key driver of demand for developing-country exports, and a crucial source of investment and finance, China’s slowdown has raised concerns about its underlying strength and the implications for global growth and trade, causing volatility in financial markets (IMF 2016b). The USA performed more robustly, continuing on the path of recovery with a growth rate of 2.5 per cent in 2015 - a 0.1 percentage point improvement from the previous year (World Bank 2016b).