The Beijing Credit Bureau Co (BCB) is expected to provide customers with objective and all-around credit analysis reports of companies and individuals, as well as other related value-added services, backed by a massive bulk of credit information and records it has gathered from the market.

"It (the system) will greatly ease the bottleneck problem dogging the growth of the country's market economy by establishing a reliable bridge between trading partners, especially for those cash-strapped small and medium-sized enterprises which lack solid back-up information when seeking loans from commercial banks," said Wu Bo, general manager of the company, at the opening ceremony.

Beijing Credit Bureau Co is invested in by four local companies: Beijing State-owned Assets Management Co, Capinfo company Ltd, Zhongguancun Sci-tech Guaranty Co Ltd and the Beijing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Service Centre.

With an initial investment of 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million), the company will first establish a huge database harbouring millions of pieces of corporate and individuals' credit information and records, which will be possessed and evaluated before being handed to its consumers.

"We will eventually build ourselves as an independent heavyweight credit rating company like Standard and Poor's," said Wu.

This is in contrast to other experts, who fear the lack of expertise and technological support will spoil the company's reputation.

According to Wu, the information will be initially gathered from government departments, including customs, taxation bureaux, financial bureaux, commerce and industry regulatory authorities, and even the judicial departments, before being gathered from other sources.

The lack of a well-disciplined credit system is believed to be a bottleneck, hindering the country's smooth economic exchanges between trading partners.

Different from most business-savvy companies which are eyeing the profitable market, BCB claims to be more patient. "We will not seek quick returns from the market," said Fan Dazhi, company chairman, who is also director of the State-owned Assets Management Co, which controls 60 per cent of the total stake.

He added the company's priority in the near future will be the development of its system and infrastructure framework.

(China Daily July 25, 2002)