Global trade may contract by more than 6 percent in 2009 but could return to positive growth next year, World Bank chief economist Justin Lin said on Thursday.

A global trade contraction could be larger than the 6 percent that we had earlier expected, Lin told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Poland.

Lin also said recent rises in global stock markets could point to the start of a global economic recovery.

(Reporting by Karolina Slowikowska and Marcin Goclowski, writing by Gareth Jones)