'Some foreign commercial banks are suffering from insufficient liquidity and cases of malicious debt evasion and breach of contracts by importers in certain nations or regions are on the rise,' the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The statement urged government agencies, insurance firms and industry associations to closely monitor credit ratings of foreign banks and the business operations of overseas importers.

It also encouraged exporters to buy export credit insurance to protect themselves.

The official Xinhua news agency said Monday that China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, the nation's only provider of export credit insurance, paid 210 million dollars in indemnities in the first 11 months of 2008.

That is up 174.5 per cent from the same period in 2007, it said.

In December, the insurer reduced credit ratings for a record 48 countries including the United States. -- AFP