The credit information resources of the Chinese economy have seen roaring growth since the establishment of the first independent credit agency little more than three decades ago.
1988 saw the establishment of China’s first specialist credit ratings agency outside of the banking system – Shanghai Far East Zixin Assessment Company (上海远东资信评估公司), marking the start of growth in the Chinese credit information sector.
A report from the Chinese central bank’s Financial News says that the credit information sector in China has since emerged as the world’s largest, following the pursuit of twin-pillar “governments + markets” model of development in a bid to resolve the problem of the information asymmetries between companies and banks, and raise the ease with which micro and small-enterprises (MSE’s) can access financial services.
The past three decades have seen the establishment of the Credit Reference Centre of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and Baihang Credit, alongside 132 enterprise credit agencies and 97 credit ratings agencies.
PBOC’s own credit system already encompasses 13.7 million MSE’s, accounting for 53% of all documented enterprises, while 3.71 million of these MSE’s have obtained financial support for a loan balance of 33 trillion yuan.
