Shenzhen leads in export credit insurance THE Shenzhen branch of China Export & Credit Insurance Corp. provided a total of US$73.1 billion in export credit insurance to Shenzhen exporters last year to spur foreign trade growth, the most among China’s major export-oriented cities, the city’s banking and insurance regulator said Friday. Shenzhen’s insurance sector maintained steady expansion last year, with insurers’ premium income rising 4.23 percent year on year to 142.65 billion yuan (US$21 billion), said the Shenzhen office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. The total assets of Shenzhen-headquartered insurers amounted to 5.75 trillion yuan at the end of December, up 5.31 percent from a year earlier, while the subsidiaries of non-Shenzhen-based insurers operating in the city saw their total assets increase by 10.9 percent from a year ago to 532.86 billion yuan at the end of last year. Firms to build sustainable aviation fuel base in GD CHINA’S Oriental Energy Co. and the United States’ Honeywell UOP will build a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production base in Maoming, a city in Guangdong Province, with an annual output of 1 million tons. According to the agreement signed Friday in Maoming, the project has two phases, and two sets of production devices using kitchen waste oil and animal fat as main raw materials will be built. After completion, the base will be the world’s largest SAF production base that uses kitchen waste oil as a main raw material. FAW, BYD launch battery production project AUTOMAKER First Automotive Works (FAW) and new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer BYD kicked off construction of a battery production facility in Changchun, Jilin Province, on Saturday. With a total investment of 13.5 billion yuan, the project is expected to meet the needs of 1 million electric cars and achieve an output value of more than 20 billion yuan. More cities to offer retirement savings WMPs FROM tomorrow, China will expand the scope of a pilot program for wealth management products (WMPs) aimed at individuals seeking to increase their retirement savings, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said Friday. China will add another six cities — Beijing, Shenyang, Changchun, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing — to the program, in addition to the four cities that have already launched relevant products. | 