Recently, the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (also known as China Credit Insurance) has released its business data for 2024. As China’s only policy-oriented insurance agency, it reported total underwriting amounts exceeding $10,214 billion, marking a 10% increase from the previous yearAdditionally, compensation payments surpassed $2.58 billion, reflecting an 11.7% growthChina Credit Insurance also provided services to over 227,000 clients, which is a 12.4% increase compared to the prior year's figures.

Looking ahead to 2024, various regions and sectors in China are persistently rolling out new policies and initiatives aimed at promoting high-quality development in foreign tradeThese strategies are designed to bolster the confidence of foreign trade enterprises and expand their markets, consequently boosting the scale of imports and exports to new heightsDuring a recent press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Wang Lingjun, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs, announced that the total value of imports and exports for the year is projected to reach 43.85 trillion yuan, signifying a 5% year-on-year growth

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This expansion sets a new historical record, further solidifying China's position as the world's leading nation in merchandise trade.

Policy-oriented export credit insurance plays a crucial role in unleashing robust energy within China's foreign trade sector, instilling confidence and stability in countless foreign trade enterprisesThroughout 2024, export credit insurance will be integrated into numerous policy documents, covering sectors such as cross-border e-commerce, service trade, and the high-quality development of manufacturing industries.

As the demand from enterprises continues to rise, the implementation of export credit insurance policies faces heightened expectationsAccording to Lou Difei, Director of the National Risk Research Center of China Credit Insurance, the number and amounts of applications for short-term export credit insurance limits initiated from the market surged by over 20% in 2024; the number of applications hit its highest level in nearly five years

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This trend indicates that foreign trade enterprises are expanding their business scale and expressing a stronger desire to break into overseas markets.

The promotion of foreign trade through export credit insurance transcends the traditional realm of underwriting and claims, extending to financing guarantees, credit services, and various other dimensionsIn 2024, China Credit Insurance has delineated specific underwriting measures in a total of six areas, comprising 18 initiatives in direct response to business needsThe projected scale of short-term export credit insurance is expected to exceed $8,600 billion, with short-term insurance financing guarantee amounts reaching 262.46 billion yuan, both figures achieving new records.

In terms of structural changes, 2024 is anticipated to witness a continuous emergence of new products, new business models, and new brandsThe proportion of innovative elements in foreign trade is steadily increasing, with a notable acceleration in the export of high-tech products

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For instance, exports of electric vehicles surged by 13.1%, those of 3D printers rose by 32.8%, and industrial robots saw a staggering increase of 45.2%. Cross-border e-commerce has emerged as a new business model, with total import and export volume reaching 2.63 trillion yuan, marking a growth of one trillion yuan compared to 2020.

Lou Difei further elaborated that in 2024, China Credit Insurance aims to focus on emerging markets and innovative models in foreign tradeThe corporation is committed to providing high-quality financial services that facilitate a higher level of openness and quality developmentIn the realm of supporting the development of new productive forces, it is expected that the corporation will help the exports of 11 key industrial chains, such as electronic information, exceed $450 billion, which accounts for more than half of the total underwriting amounts of short-term export credit insurance

The electronic information, modern chemical, and complete machinery engineering industry chains each are projected to see significant increases in underwriting amounts.

Notably, the General Administration of Customs has reported that in 2024, the proportion of China’s imports and exports with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative exceeded 50% for the first timeTrade with these partner countries showed a 6.4% increase, accounting for 50.3% of China's total import and export valueReports indicate that in support of enterprises expanding into emerging markets, China Credit Insurance is actively facilitating the implementation of results from the third Belt and Road Forum for International CooperationThis includes support for exports and investments in Belt and Road partner countries totaling $281.57 billion, as well as significant year-on-year growth rates in exports to Latin America (25.6%), ASEAN (17.4%), and Africa (35.9%).

To nurture and promote the growth of foreign trade entities, China Credit Insurance has rolled out three major initiatives: "Inclusive Services Expansion," "Financial Support for Thriving Enterprises," and "Enhancing New Productive Forces." Ten exclusive measures have been introduced to aid these initiatives, leading to support for 198,000 small and micro enterprises, a 16.2% increase, and facilitating $180.84 billion in exports from these smaller firms, reflecting an 8.6% rise

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