An export credit insurance company has joined up with a construction giant to facilitate the latter's overseas development.

 

Sinosure and China Metallurgical Construction Group Corporation (MCC) signed an agreement yesterday relating to an overall strategic partnership.

 

According to the agreement, Sinosure will provide credit insurance and other financial services for MCC's overseas expansion.

 

This will be in sectors such as resources development, investment, construction, real estate and equipment exports.

 

"For Chinese companies to go abroad, what they need most is to tie up with financial institutions. Financial institutions should thereby provide a better service for domestic companies," Tang Ruoxin, president of the Sinosure, said at the signing ceremony.

 

Following in the footsteps of the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Bank of China, Sinosure has become one of MCC's major financial partners.

 

The company, which specializes in export credit insurance, provides insurance services to over 160 companies. It is developing new financial products and services to facilitate domestic companies' overseas expansion.

 

The insurance company has built a network of 12 branches and seven business offices nationwide. It also has an office in London.

 

MCC, a State-owned contractor, has assets worth 504 billion yuan (US$62 billion). Its 2004 revenues reached 53 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion).

 

"We have set ourselves a target to become one of the world's top 500 companies within the next five years," Yang Changheng, director of MCC, said.

 

According to Yang, the conglomerate won US$1.4 billion worth of overseas contracts last year and US$2 billion this year.

 

"The cooperation will help improve MCC's risk management in its overseas expansion. With this link up, we will rapidly expand overseas," Yang said.

 

MCC has four core sectors: contracting, resource development, equipment design, and fabrication and real estate development.

 

To develop its overseas business, the company will continue to strengthen its traditional building business, which makes up the lion's share of its overall operations.

 

At the same time, it is diversifying its business portfolio to reduce risk.

 

The company plans to reduce its traditional contracting work from 78 percent of its portfolio in 2004 to 68 percent in 2006.

 

Its resource development program will grow to 2.4 percent of operations, mechanical equipment fabrication to 20 percent, and property development to 5.9 percent.

 

(China Daily March 24, 2006)