CSSC-affiliated Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding has signed a strategic agreement with China Exim Bank where the bank will provide various financing services to a total value of RMB18bn ($2.82bn) to Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding in the next three years.

China Exim Bank said the deal is a response to the central government’s call to transform and optimize the shipbuilding industry amid tough market conditions, and it will further expand its financing service to Chinese shipyards this year.

Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding is one of the largest shipyards in the world, and has been China’s leading shipyard in terms of shipbuilding completion volumes since 2005.