They are without government guarantees. China continues to be one of ADB's largest borrowers. Loans are largely for infrastructure and environmental projects. Many U.S. companies have been successful in obtaining contracts under these loans either on their own or by working in conjunction with large Japanese trading firms. This is usually a year or two before the tender is formally published.
OECF projects tend to be in infrastructure, environmental and agricultural sectors.
U.S. firms, otherwise competitive on price and quality, sometimes lose contracts because they can not compete with such loans. Eximbank will not initiate a soft-loan offer. A U.S. firm should consult with a Commercial Service officer if it believes it is competing against a soft loan. Eximbank works with the Bank of China and the State Development Bank, and will work with other banks, including China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of Communication, assuming full faith and credit guarantees are available from the Chinese government. The rates and terms of such financing are governed by the OECD arrangements on export credits.