Export credit. Export credit refers to loans provided by a country's banks to domestic exporters, foreign importers or importers' banks in order to encourage the export of domestic commodities and enhance the competitiveness of domestic export commodities. Export credit is usually provided by the exporter's bank when exporting complete sets of equipment, ships, planes and other commodities. Because of the high price of this kind of goods, it is difficult for importers to pay immediately, and if they can't get the payment, exporters can't carry out normal capital turnover, which requires the relevant banks to provide financial services to importers or exporters to promote business and expand the export of domestic goods.

Export credit was used to encourage the export of goods before World War II, but it was more widely used after World War II, which extended the credit period and reduced the loan interest. For example, 1978, the US Congress decided to increase the total amount of funds allocated to the US Export-Import Bank from the original $25 billion to $40 billion in the next five years. Using fiscal policy to encourage exports is easy to be restricted by international legal rules, and it is also easy to cause opposition and retaliation from the other country, so the role of credit policy is becoming more and more important. Export credit is widely used because of its less international constraints, being welcomed by importing and exporting countries and convenient implementation. At present, about 40% of the exports of large-scale equipment and complete sets of equipment in developed countries depend on export credit.

Export credit includes seller's credit and buyer's credit.

1, supplier's credit. Seller's credit refers to the loan provided by the exporter's official financial institution or commercial bank to domestic exporters (that is, sellers). The loan contract was signed by the exporter and the bank.

In international trade, if the negotiations between exporters and importers involve bulk commodity trade, importers generally require deferred payment or long-term installment payment, which is often used as a condition of the transaction. However, this payment method is equivalent to occupying the exporter's funds in a certain period of time, which will affect the exporter's capital turnover and even normal operation. In this case, banks in exporting countries need to provide credit funds to exporters, and seller's credit comes into being.

The general practice of seller's credit is that after signing the sales contract, the importer must pay 5 ~ 15% of the payment as the performance bond. 10 ~ 15% of the payment shall be paid in installments at the expiration of delivery, acceptance and guarantee, and the rest of the payment shall be amortized in installments within several years after full delivery (generally once every six months) with interest during the extension period. When the buyer pays in installments, the exporter repays the loan and interest to the exporter's bank. Therefore, seller's credit is actually a form of credit in which banks directly subsidize exporters to provide deferred payment to importers to promote commodity exports.

Using seller's credit to encourage exports has advantages and disadvantages for both importers and exporters. For exporters, seller's credit enables them to obtain much-needed working capital, which is conducive to the normal development of their business activities. For importers, although this practice is relatively simple and convenient, it facilitates import trade activities, but it makes the price of goods paid obviously high. Because when the exporter quotes, in addition to the cost and profit of the exported goods, the interest and expenses of borrowing from the bank and the compensation for foreign exchange risks should be added to the price of the goods. Therefore, the cost and expense of importing with seller's credit are higher. It is estimated that the price of machinery and equipment imported with seller's credit may be 3 ~ 4% higher than that imported with cash, and in some cases it may even be 8 ~ 10% higher.

2. Buyer's credit. Buyer's credit is a loan provided by the exporter's bank directly to the importer (buyer) or the importer's bank, which is used to support the importer to import goods from the lending country. Buyer's credit is a kind of binding loan. The loan contract is based on the condition that the loan must be used to import the goods of the lending country, and often the signed commodity trade contract shall prevail. There are two forms of buyer's credit in specific applications: the first is that the exporter's bank directly provides loans to foreign importers. Specifically, after the importer signs a trade contract with the exporter, the importer pays a cash deposit equivalent to 15% of the price, and then the importer signs a loan agreement with the exporter's bank (the agreement is based on the above trade contract). If the importer doesn't buy the equipment of the exporting country, the importer can't get a loan from the exporter's bank. The importer pays the loan to the exporter in cash. The arrears owed by the importer to the exporter's bank shall be paid in installments according to the terms of the loan agreement. ?

The second is that the exporter's bank directly provides loans to the importer's bank, which is a relatively common way of buyer's credit. The specific method is that the importer negotiates trade with the exporter, and after signing the trade contract, the importer pays the cash deposit equivalent to 15% first. The importer's bank signs a loan agreement with the exporter's bank (although this agreement is also based on the above-mentioned trade contract, it is relatively independent), the importer lends the borrowed money to the importer, and then the importer pays the payment to the exporter in cash. The importer's bank repays the loan to the exporter's bank in installments according to the loan agreement. The debts between the importer and the importer's bank shall be settled in China by mutual agreement.

The above two methods are more beneficial to the exporter, because he can get the payment quickly, avoid risks and facilitate his capital turnover. Because buyer's credit has many advantages, it is widely used at present. For example, in 1988, the Export-Import Bank of the United States provided loans of $90.2 million to two companies in China to help them beat their competitors from French, Japanese and other countries and win contracts to export machinery and equipment to two companies in China. Among them, a loan of $80.2 million was provided to a glass factory in China for the purchase of machinery and equipment of new york Corning Glass Company; In addition, 654.38 million US dollars were provided to a PVC enterprise in China for purchasing machinery and equipment of Pennsylvania Western Chemical Company. In recent years, China has often used buyer's credit to promote product export. For example, in March 1996, The Export-Import Bank of China provided a buyer's credit of 70 million US dollars to Peru. This loan is specially used to support China foreign trade company to export railway facilities and locomotives to Peru. In addition, in order to do a good job in export credit business, developed countries generally set up special banks to handle import and export-related credit business. For example, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Export-Import Bank of Japan and the French Foreign Trade Bank. The funds needed by these banks are generally allocated from the government budget. In addition, some private commercial banks also handle export credit business.

Export credit guarantee system

Export credit guarantee system. Export credit guarantee system refers to a system in which the state guarantees loans provided by domestic exporters or commercial banks to foreign importers or banks in order to encourage the export of commodities, and when foreign debtors refuse to pay, this state institution will compensate them according to the insured amount.

There are two reasons why export credit insurance is borne by the state. First, the amount involved in export credit is generally relatively large, which is often beyond the capacity of private insurance companies. In order to promote exports, developed countries allocate funds and set up specialized institutions to provide export credit insurance, such as American Export Credit Insurance Association, overseas private investment insurance company and American commodity credit company, British Export Credit Guarantee Corporation and French foreign trade company. Secondly, in order to minimize the risk of export credit insurance, the insurer must comprehensively and accurately understand and master the domestic political and economic situation and changes of the importing country, as well as the credit degree and operation of the importer. This work is also difficult for ordinary insurance companies, so the government usually hands over the credit insurance business to specialized export credit insurance institutions on the premise that the state assumes economic responsibility. There are also a few countries that entrust their private insurance companies to act as export credit insurance agents, but their economic responsibilities are also borne by the state. ?

There are two main types of insurance coverage guaranteed by the state for export credit. One is political risks, including coups, wars, revolutions and riots in importing countries, as well as the losses caused by embargoes, freezing of funds and restrictions on external payments to exporters or banks in exporting countries for political reasons. The insured amount of this risk is generally 85% ~ 90% of the contract amount, and in some countries, such as the United States, it is as high as 100%. Second, economic risks, including losses caused to exporters or banks in exporting countries due to bankruptcy or unreasonable refusal to pay, or abnormal exchange rate changes and inflation. The economic risk compensation rate is generally 70% ~ 85% of the contract amount. In addition to the above two types, export credit insurance may also include some special types of insurance.

The national guarantee period of export credit is divided into short-term, medium-term and long-term. The short-term is generally about 6 months, and the medium and long-term guarantee period ranges from 2 years to 15 years. Short-term underwriting applies to all short-term credit transactions of exporters. In order to simplify the procedures, some countries adopt a "comprehensive guarantee" approach to short-term credit. Exporters only need to insure once a year to cover all short-term credit transactions abroad within one year. The medium-and long-term credit guarantee is applicable to the medium-and long-term export credit for the export of large-scale complete sets of equipment, ships and other capital goods and the export of engineering and technical contracting services. Due to the large amount and long time, this kind of guarantee generally adopts a special guarantee approved one by one.

Because the national guarantee of export credit is a kind of policy insurance, the purpose is to encourage exports, so the insurance rates in various countries are generally low to reduce the burden on exporters and banks. However, according to the insurance period, insurance amount, insurance type and export country, the insurance rate is different. In addition, there are differences among countries, such as 0.25% ~ 0.75% in Britain and 1% ~ 1.5% in former West Germany.

Since 1990s, China has also implemented the export credit guarantee system Degree. For example, on July 9, 1996, China People's Insurance Company signed a contract with Shandong Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Group Corporation to provide export seller's credit insurance for an Indonesian company to export frozen aquatic products. The export business is 8 million US dollars, and the payment is postponed for two years. The Export-Import Bank of China provided export seller's credit for this project, and People's Insurance Company of China provided export seller's credit insurance. This is a typical case in which China's banks, insurance and export enterprises cooperate closely to complete the export of mechanical and electrical products, and it is also the first export enterprise in Shandong Province to successfully complete the export project by using the national export credit policy.