ECIC — Export Credit Insurance
The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC) is a wholly government-owned statutory body established in 1966 under the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation Ordinance (Cap. 1115), with its liabilities guaranteed by the government. It doesn't give you money — it insures the risk that you ship the goods and never get paid: buyer insolvency, default, refusal to take delivery, plus country risk where the buyer sits. The SME-facing product is the Small Business Policy, designed for exporters with smaller annual turnover, whose standing benefits include a waived annual policy fee and premium discounts. Note: the three extra support measures introduced in April 2025 (free pre-shipment risk cover, half-price premiums, reduced emerging-market rates) were officially stated to run to 2026-06-30, and whether they have been extended needs checking with ECIC.
You're in export trade extending credit to overseas buyers, and your biggest worry is shipping goods and never getting paid — especially in emerging markets where you can't verify a buyer's creditworthiness. ECIC insures exactly that risk, and because its liabilities are government-guaranteed, payout certainty is higher than with ordinary commercial cover.
You want a grant or matching funding you don't repay — see BUD or EMF; to borrow, see SFGS. If you only trade on advance payment or letters of credit and never extend credit to buyers, your exposure is already small and this adds limited value.
wholly government-owned with government-guaranteed liabilities[S113]
as at 2025-12-31[S113]
as at 2025-12-31[S113]
- Deadline / window
- Cover can be taken out year-round with no application deadline; the three extra support measures introduced in April 2025 were officially stated to run to 2026-06-30, and any extension is yet to be announced
- Turnover
- The Small Business Policy is designed for exporters with smaller annual turnover (the official threshold is reported as under HK$50M, pending re-verification on the official page)
- For whom
- Hong Kong exporters and enterprises engaged in export trade; credit limits approved by buyer and market
- Policy application, company and business details, buyer list and the credit limits sought
- Past export and payment records, used to assess buyer risk and price the cover
It covers not getting paid, not the cost of promotion
Going overseas leaves two kinds of gaps. One is not being able to afford it — promotion, trade fairs, brand-building — which is where EMF and BUD sit. The other is not daring to do it: the buyer wants 60 days' credit, you don't know them, the market is far away, and one bad debt can swallow half a year's profit. ECIC covers the second kind. By taking on buyer risk and country risk, it lets you accept orders you otherwise wouldn't — in effect widening the set of buyers you can trade with.
The 2025 relief package has passed its stated end date
In April 2025 ECIC introduced three extra support measures: free pre-shipment risk cover for Small Business Policy holders, a 50% premium discount on pre-shipment risk cover for other policyholders, and reduced premium rates for emerging markets. In a January 2026 Legislative Council reply the government stated that 'the above measures are effective until 30 June 2026'. That date has passed and, as at our latest verification, no extension has been announced — so confirm directly with ECIC whether equivalent relief is still in force before taking out cover, rather than budgeting premiums on the old terms.
- 1
Size your exposure first
Add up how much credit you extend, over what terms, and how concentrated it is — if one or two buyers account for most of your receivables, that's the exposure actually worth insuring.
Pitfall: Estimating premiums off total turnover while ignoring that payment terms and buyer concentration are what actually drive the price.
- 2
Choose the policy tier
Exporters with smaller turnover fit the Small Business Policy (waived annual fee plus premium discounts); larger or more diversified exporters take a general export policy.
Pitfall: Assuming a policy automatically covers everything — cover is bounded by credit limits approved buyer by buyer.
- 3
Apply for a credit limit on each buyer
ECIC approves limits based on the buyer's creditworthiness and market; anything above the limit is outside cover, so apply ahead for new buyers and new markets.
Pitfall: Remembering the credit limit only after shipping — cover generally does not reach back to transactions already made.
- 4
Confirm the current premium relief before signing
The 2025 relief package has passed its stated end date of 2026-06-30, so ask ECIC directly about current rates and any new round before you sign.
Pitfall: Budgeting off a 'half-price premium' line in an old news story when rates may have reverted to standard.
When a loss actually happens, how long from notification to payout, and how heavy is the evidence burden in practice?· First-hand insight in the works
Pending a first-hand interview with an exporter who has filed a claim.
How large a credit limit do mainland or emerging-market buyers actually get approved for, and how often are limits cut back?· First-hand insight in the works
Pending a first-hand interview.
- 01Extending credit to overseas buyers and worried about bad debt → contact ECIC to ask whether the Small Business Policy fits, and apply for credit limits on your first buyers.
- 02What you need is promotion costs reimbursed → see EMF (HK$100K per claim) or BUD (HK$7M cumulative).
- 03You're short of working capital rather than risk cover → see the SFGS loan guarantee (borrowing through a participating bank).
The institutional status, the three 2025 support measures and their stated end date of 2026-06-30, and the uptake figures as at 2025-12-31 are verified against the government's Legislative Council reply of 2026-01-28 (an info.gov.hk official press release). The policy-level terms — the Small Business Policy's turnover boundary, the scope of cover and exclusions, premium rates and credit-limit rules — could not be verified first-hand because ECIC's own site hkecic.com returns 403 to our fetches, and are on the pending-verification list; check the official page or ask ECIC directly before taking out cover.
This page sits in the funding overview but is insurance rather than a grant: the spec card's 'amount / matching ratio' fields don't apply, so the amount field describes how cover works rather than a sum you receive.