| As a tool of financial policy, officially supported export credits plays an important role in promoting export and enhancing domestic economy as a financial tool of implementing governments’export policies, but it also has bad effects on international trade order. For the purpose of preventing the vicious circle of competition of preferential export credit terms between countries and to keep the international trade in order, the participants of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (the "OECD") made the famous "gentlemen’s agreement" after negotiations, the agreement is called Arrangement on guidelines for officially supported export credits, WTO incorporated this agreement into its system through a rule in the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the "SCM Agreement"), thus officially supported export credits may be deemed as prohibited or actionable subsidy under the WTO system.This article’s main purpose is to provide an analysis of the compliance issue between export credits and WTO rules especially the SCM Agreement, and focuses on interpretation and application of WTO rules and the OECD gentlemen’s agreement through analysis of officially supported export credit rules, panel report and appellate body report of relevant cases, aiming to clarify the understanding of the meaning and scope of the rules, trying to clarify their interpretations, applications and issues raised. In practice, some export credit programs or measures supported by Chinese government may damage other WTO members’interest and disputes may arise. To be prepared from these potential disputes on export credits and to find proper way of adjustments for China’s current export credit system, this article also looks into China’s practice, potential claims raised by European countries and the United States of America towards export credits of China, analyses the compliance of relevant measures of China in this regard and tries to make useful suggestions. |
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