China ExIm bank raises shipbuilding portfolio

With shipbuilding now accounting for 25% of its US$12bn loan book, the Export-Import Bank of China said it would increase loans to buyers of China-made ships by another US$2bn. ExIm bank Deputy General Manager Benjamin Bao Jianmin did not say when the new target would be met but said the bank would be issuing more of its preferential loans to foreign buyers in an effort to boost offshore shipbuilding sales. Bao said loans to foreign shipowners had been on the rise since 2001 but declined to reveal the percentage of outstanding loans held by foreigners who now account for three quarters of new tonnage made by China's biggest shipbuilder, China State Shipbuilding Corp.