China Export Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) will compensate those losses incurred by domestic firms in foreign exchange when exporting to Russia.

This will help them expand exports to the country and improve the competitiveness of their products, said Zhu Jing'an, general manager of Sinosure's operations department.

He said Sinosure could insure against risks in the commercial credit of foreign buyers or risks inherent in foreign politics.

Sinosure can guarantee domestic firms investing in Russia and eastern Europe and help with their fund-raising activities, he said.

The corporation also provides services such as an investigation into overseas firms' assets and credit and collection of due accounts.

Zhu said he expects the new insurance products and services of Sinosure will help promote China's investments in and exports to Russia and eastern Europe and strengthen bilateral trade ties.

Russia is seen as a huge potential market as its gross domestic product is expected to grow more than 4 per cent this year.

It is expected to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) next year, said Xu Xin, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Trade between China and Russia reached US$7.6 billion in the first eight months of this year and rose to a record high of US$10.7 billion last year.

But China's total trade deficit with Russia was huge. It stood at US$27.1 billion at the end of August and is still increasing rapidly.

(China Daily October 11, 2002)