A drone view of the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base in east China's Jiangsu province, which is a pivotal cross-border transportation hub between Asia and Europe. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By CHEN Chunyou

Recently, a guideline on strengthening commercial and financial coordination and supporting the high-quality development of cross-border trade and investment was released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

A notable feature of this guideline is to uphold the integrated approach to economics and finance, and deepen the cooperation between commerce and finance, providing  support for addressing difficulties of enterprises in cross-border trade settlement and trade financing services, said MOFCOM.

In March, the 2024 Government Work Report proposed more support for import and export credit and export credit insurance. To implement the decisions and deployments of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, along with the feedback from the enterprises and other relevant market entities, the guideline was formulated to synergize commerce and finance in supporting the high-quality growth of cross-border trade and investment, according to MOFCOM.

The guideline proposes 11 measures in five categories to promote foreign trade and foreign investment, via strengthening the guarantee of foreign financial services.

In terms of driving the growth of foreign trade, comprehensive financial services will be optimized. This includes advancing the optimization and upgrading of merchandise trade by enhancing credit, credit insurance, policy-backed financing, and property insurance services.

In addition, new drivers of foreign trade, providing premium services for international cooperation in foreign trade supply chains, cross-border e-commerce exports, and green trade, will be implemented.

Moreover, there will be a push for the vigorous development of service trade and digital trade, with increased support from service trade funds, intangible asset-backed financing, and insurance coverage for data elements.

In order to deepen economic and trade cooperation with the Belt and Road Initiative countries, the overseas financial network will be optimized, along with credit, credit insurance, and reinsurance services for overseas investment cooperation.

To facilitate cross-border trade and investment, the payment and settlement environment will also be improved. This involves refining cross-border RMB services to better cater to enterprise needs, upgrading exchange rate hedging products, and reducing foreign exchange hedging costs for small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises.