The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have opened in Tokyo.

The IMF revealed on Tuesday its World Economic Outlook report and forecast that the global economy will post growth of three-point-three percent this year, down two-tenths of a percent from a projection issued in July.

The report projected that next year, the world economy will expand three-point-six percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from a July forecast.

The IMF also projected that euro zone countries will post negative growth of four-tenths of a percent this year and expressed its concerns over the overall slowdown in the global economy.

The last time Japan hosted the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank was 48 years ago. Some 20-thousand finance ministers and central bank governors from 188 countries are attending the meetings. However, China, which is mired in a territorial conflict with Japan over the Senkaku islands, declared that heads of its major banks will not be taking part in the annual event.