China Shipbuilding secures CNY100 billion credit line

The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has signed a CNY100 billion (USD15.7 billion) financing deal with one of the country's biggest banks. CSSC said the funding will support its expansion in areas including research and development (R&D) and exports.

The financing agreement was signed by CSSC and the China Construction Bank on 3 November in Beijing. CSSC said the arrangement will provide it with long-term funding support across a range of activities such as supply-chain support, international business, credit provision, technology development, research projects, and upskilling workers. CSSC indicated that the funding will be available across its commercial and military shipbuilding portfolios.

The finance deal is the third that CSSC has entered into in the past year.

In December 2020 CSSC signed similar agreements – totalling more than CNY100 billion – with China's Bank of Communications and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. These arrangements are also long-term deals aimed at supporting CSSC's business-expansion projects including R&D and exports.

CSSC has previously said that the finance deals are aligned with the Chinese government's Belt and Road Initiative. This effort – supported by China's state-owned industrial enterprises – is geared towards expanding China's economic and strategic influence across much of the world's developing regions.

Further supporting expansion efforts, CSSC issued corporate bonds on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 2020. These bonds raised CNY3 billion.