Chinese and Indian firms are pulling back from selling on credit as the risk of defaults rises, new report finds
Companies across the Asia-Pacific region – and especially those in China – are becoming more cautious about selling on credit, as a turbulent global economy leads to a “concerning” rise in long payment delays, a new report has found.
Two-thirds of Asia-Pacific firms expect payment terms to shorten over the next six months, which suggests “caution and higher priority for cash preservation amid heightened uncertainty”, global trade credit insurer Coface found in its latest Asia Payment survey released on Wednesday.
Though payment terms edged up slightly in 2023, rising from 64 days to 65 days, they remained well below the 2018-2022 average of 69 days, reflecting tighter credit conditions, according to the survey of 2,600 companies conducted between December 2024 and March 2025.
Mainland China recorded the steepest drop in the share of firms offering sales on credit among the nine economies surveyed, which also included Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, India, Singapore and Thailand.
