China to provide export risk protection via new cross-border financial action plan

An official from China's top financial regulator said on Wednesday that a recently revealed action plan on promoting cross-border financial services will provide export risk protection for foreign trade companies, in a move to support export-oriented firms amid an increasingly complex external environment. 

Yin Jiang'ao, who is in charge of the Property and Casualty Insurance Supervision Department of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, said during a press conference that the action plan, released on Monday, will guide export credit insurance companies to actively perform their duties and provide risk protection for export companies. 

Given the insufficient growth momentum of the world economy and the intensification of unilateralism and protectionism in recent years, the stability of the global industrial and supply chain was affected, Lu Lei, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said during the conference, adding that the action plan was intended to reduce trade costs and support enterprises to conduct businesses overseas more effectively and safely.

The action plan aims to optimize risk management services for exchange rate fluctuations and enhance insurance coverage for export-oriented companies, among five major points.

By optimizing the cross-border financial safeguard system, enterprises are encouraged to expand exports, stabilize the foreign trade environment and enhance resilience in addressing international trade frictions, Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Xi Junyang said that to provide risk protection for export enterprises, two types of risks require attention - non-financial risks such as transportation issues, payment delays and breaches of contract, as well as financial risks such as exchange rate fluctuations and international market prices.

In 2024, China's export credit insurance coverage exceeded $1 trillion for the first time, with robust growth momentum continuing in the first quarter of 2025, said Yin, noting that the action plan provides comprehensive protection across all foreign trade scenarios for enterprises expanding overseas, which will safeguard Chinese companies' offshore assets.

In addition, member companies of the China Belt and Road Reinsurance Pool have provided approximately 7 trillion yuan ($957.29 billion) of risk protection for Chinese overseas interests in 195 countries and regions, Yin added. 

After the U.S.' imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese products, expanding exports to non-U.S. markets has become a key issue, said Xi Junyang.

He noted that price fluctuations due to tariff changes and insurance are partly interrelated. "Economic uncertainty caused by policy changes such as tariff adjustments could be also covered by insurance," he said, adding that this would reduce risks for export enterprises while expanding their business scope.