The Export-Import Bank of China last Friday agreed to extend ship financing loans worth RMB21.8bn ($3.6bn) to 11 Chinese shipbuilding enterprises for their contracts with international clients.
The loans from China EximBank went mainly to self-elevating drilling rigs, 65 units of containerships for export and 12 units of eco-friendly coastal vessels.
Sun Ping, vice president of China EximBank, said last Friday at an industry forum that the bank has to-date dished out a total of RMB579.6bn of loans to support 9,637 units of ships.
Sun added that the bank seeks to support local yards that have contracts with foreign shipowners in a bid to raise the competitiveness of China’s shipbuilding industry, and to promote the technological development of the yards.
The Chinese bank also has a focus to steer most of its financing toward the construction of higher value and eco-friendly vessels such as LNG carriers, large containerships and high-specification offshore vessels.
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