How China’s state insurer is turning Brazil’s credit crisis into an export advantage

With one of the world’s highest benchmark interest rates among major economies, Brazilian importers who buy from China are turning to a state-owned Chinese credit insurer to sustain trade flows that reached US$158 billion in 2024.

Facing working capital lines that cost upwards of two per cent a month, equivalent to roughly 27 per cent a year according to market calculations, mid-sized importers are securing deferred payment terms directly from Chinese suppliers through credit limits backed by Sinosure, the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation. No Brazilian bank is involved, and no domestic credit line is consumed.

Sinosure is one of the world’s largest trade credit insurers, with a total insured volume of US$1.02 trillion in 2024, up 10 per cent from the previous year.

Short-term export credit alone exceeded US$860 billion, covering roughly one in four dollars of China’s total merchandise exports.

The insurer does not move money. It guarantees payment to Chinese exporters if a foreign buyer defaults.

Under the standard structure, a defaulting buyer has 30 days to settle before the supplier can file a claim.