Export-Import Bank facilitates exports to Chinese government

Export-Import Bank facilitates exports to Chinese government    The U.S. Export-Import Bank has signed an agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Finance that makes it easier for the bank to help finance purchases of U.S. exports by Chinese government entities.
   The pact, described as 'a framework agreement' in a statement by the Ex-Im Bank, provides a procedure in which the finance ministry in Beijing may guarantee payment of obligations of a Chinese buyer of U.S. exports financed by the bank.
   Philip Merrill, chairman of the Ex-Im Bank, and Liao Xiaojun, China's vice minister of finance, signed the agreement.
   'As China's economy expands and its people increasingly prosper, it will have growing need for the top-quality goods and services that the United States can provide,' Merrill said.
   The pact managed 'to accommodate the Ministry of Finance's interests while preserving the Ex-Im Bank's rights in sovereign credits,' said Peter Saba, the bank's chief operating officer and general counsel.
   Ex-Im Bank, which has more than $4.1 billion exposure in China, recently helped finance American exports to China of railway track inspection equipment, air-quality monitors, high-tech hospital supplies, and components for an ethylene production plant.