Manufacturers save supply chains' blushes

Based on its business performance during the first nine months, the group's foreign trade value is expected to reach $1.5 billion this year, Chen said.

Export-oriented companies receive US dollars from their foreign clients, but pay for materials and wages in renminbi. So, many Chinese exporters raised their product prices earlier this year after negotiating with their overseas clients to hedge against currency fluctuations as well as change the timelines of order quotation from one year to six months, or even three months now.

While these moves may erode the confidence of overseas customers, ensuring profits has become a priority for the majority of Chinese companies, especially those in labor-intensive garment and textile sectors, said Chen Dapeng, vice-president of the Beijing-based China National Textile and Apparel Council.

Under such circumstances, financial instruments that can stabilize fluctuations of foreign exchange rates have become a popular choice for many Chinese exporters, he said.

With the rise of the renminbi exchange rate, a growing number of foreign trade companies have consulted foreign exchange risk managers. They expect to lock the exchange rate of renminbi settlement as soon as possible to reduce the loss of exchange settlement caused by the rapid appreciation of the renminbi, said Xu Maomao, head of Bank of Beijing's Shenzhen branch.

"Companies, especially those related to warehousing and supply chain businesses, have not only growing demand for foreign debt guarantee services but financing needs for conducting cross-border investment activities," she said.

China's foreign trade in goods soared 22.7 percent year-on-year to 28.33 trillion yuan ($4.43 trillion) in the first three quarters of this year. Its exports of goods surged 22.7 percent while imports grew by 22.6 percent, said the General Administration of Customs.

Zhang Yongjun, deputy chief economist at the Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said even though China's foreign trade this year is expected to maintain relatively fast growth, the year-on-year growth rate will likely narrow in the fourth quarter due to the effect of high base of the same period last year.