Overcapacity in shipping markets always brings a round of finger-pointing, and ship finance institutions are a perennial butt of blame.

As some shipping markets show signs of recovery, could China’s financial leasing sector be the next culprit as the country seeks foreign investment targets?

Gao Zefeng of the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) believes in prevention. Financial leasing houses, increasingly eager to offer a variety of creative financial models, should not stray too far from finance leasing as their core business, he argues.