U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed the reauthorization bill of the U.S. Export- Import Bank, with which the U.S. government would continue to promote export sales.

The independent federal agency, founded in 1934, survived a challenge earlier this month from Republicans in U.S. Congress, claiming its concessional loan was market-distorting and the bank should be abrogated.

The U.S. Congress finally passed the reauthorization bill of the Export-Import Bank, which extended its authority to approve new export financing to September 30, 2014 and increased its lending capacity to 120 billion dollars immediately. The bank's financing authority would be further stepped up to 140 billion dollars, while requiring it to submit a business plan and maintain a low default rate.

Without congressional approval, the bank's charter would have expired in the end of May.

The renewal of Export-Import Bank is considered by Obama as an important step to support the National Export Initiative (NEI) in 2010, with the goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years.

America continues to make historic progress under the NEI despite challenges in the global economy, and the Export-Import Bank is playing an important role in contributing to this progress, said the White House in a statement.

In 2011, the U.S. Export-Import Bank provided loans and credit guarantee of about 32.7 billion dollars for export companies, with 11 billion dollars granted to the Boeing Company.