SAIC Motor signs 50b yuan credit agreement

China's biggest automaker SAIC Motor and the Export-Import Bank of China signed a strategic cooperation agreement involving 50 billion yuan credit.

The credit will be used in the field of SAIC Motor's vehicles, auto parts, mobility services, auto finance, international operations as well as development of big data and artificial intelligence.

Based on the agreement, SAIC Motor and the bank will cooperate in business areas such as credit, trade finance, settlement and consulting. The Shanghai-based automaker said it will help the company further improve its global competitiveness.

The two parties will collaborate in the export of vehicles, auto parts and production line equipment. Cooperation between two sides also includes working capital loans and fixed-asset investment projects involved in production and operation, overseas fixed-asset investment and equity acquisition. There are also import projects of equipment, parts and technologies.

The bank will provide a series of financial service solutions for SAIC’s overseas fixed-asset investment projects, overseas equity acquisition projects, import and export trade. The bank will provide investment and exchange rate risk control as well as financial management advice to assist SAIC in achieving safe and effective capital allocation and operations. It will also cooperate with SAIC in the business areas of international settlement, guarantee, trade financing, bond underwriting, spot and forward foreign exchange transactions.

With the COVID-19 pandemic posing challenges to the auto industry, SAIC Motor has been striving to maintain economic operations and accelerate its innovative development strategy in the fields of electrification, intelligence and connectivity, car sharing and globalization.

The company’s retail sales turned positive in April and its domestic wholesale sales followed suit in May. In July, SAIC Motor achieved global wholesale sales of 458,000 vehicles, an increase of 4 percent year on year. 

The automaker has sold products and services to more than 60 countries and regions. From January to July this year, it achieved overall overseas sales of 154,000 vehicles, continuing to rank first in China and accounting for a third of the total overseas sales of Chinese automakers. 

With the current domestic economy recovering steadily, the auto industry is gradually getting back on track. In the second half of the year, SAIC said it will ensure stable and orderly production and operation, strengthen economic operation resilience and continue to promote development of the latest industry trends and provide support for its innovative development.