China credit rating agency in Europe

Italy's second largest city is to be home to the first European office of Dagong, the Chinese credit rating agency,which check chinese company credit. It is expected that the company's Milan office could get official approval to begin operations as early as next month (June). It is currently waiting on final authorisation from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU financial regulatory body.

Once operational, the Milan office will employ more than 40 analysts as a joint venture between Dagong Global and Mandarin Capital Partners, a Sino-Italian private equity fund. It will undertake rating activities for banks and corporate entities, while any sovereign state rating activity will be conducted by the company's head office in Beijing.

It is believed this Europe-based rival to Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Group (the three ratings agencies that together share 95% of the global market) is intended to boost Chinese investments in Europe by providing Mainland companies with clear indications of the value and rating of local industry prospects.

It is a timely launch, given that Chinese investors are currently switching away from sovereign state bond investments and considering the acquisition of both brands and local industries. A rating by a China-based agency could be a useful guide for Chinese investors looking to evaluate opportunities in the European market.

Milan decision surprises industry observers

The selection of Italy as Dagong's first European operation – with more apparently planned in the coming years – has caused raised eyebrows among the EU business community. Despite retaining something of an industrial base, the country is not seen as one of the main European hubs for financial services.

The Italian press has carried some concerns that the arrival of this Chinese newcomer reflects expectations that a number of local businesses, weakened by the prevailing European financial conditions, could be ripe to be acquired at knockdown rates. Some have even suggested the agency could be instrumental in artificially lowering the value of companies in order for purchasers to secure a better deal. Others, however, maintain that the arrival of a Chinese ratings agency is inevitable given the level of the country's acquisitions in Europe.

CHINA INSOLVENCIES TO INCREASE IN 2015

In an attempt to revive the Chinese economy, the People's Bank of China clipped interest rates for the sixth time since November as well as reduced its reserve-requirement ratio for banks. The country's benchmark lending and deposit rate was cut 25 basis points, while its reserve-requirement ratio for banks dropped 0.5 basis points.

Hong Kong And Taiwan Companies Will Need More Due Diligence Into Business Partners.

Amid the high profile interest payment default by a property developer, global ,expecially china trade credit insurer Euler Hermes warns of heightened insolvency risk and deteriorating payment terms in China. In 2015, Euler Hermes Economic Research expects the number of Chinese companies filing for bankruptcy to grow +5% (representing an estimate total of 2,760 cases) as liquidity tightens due to the crackdown on shadow banking, overcapacity in the real estate sector and greater fiscal discipline by local governments.

However, because of the complex and costly procedures involved, insolvency cases in Chinese courts are still relatively rare in absolute terms. Euler Hermes notes that an increasing number of Chinese companies lacking access to bank financing must look for alternatives, with a growing number choosing to delay payments to suppliers or asking for extended credit terms to their business partners.

China trade credit

Do you run or plan to start importing from China but do not know whether your Chinese business partner is a legally registered company? This is a common problem when doing business with Chinese companies, especially when you do it through the Internet and use B2B portals like Alibaba.com. The question seems peculiar, but still not enough people ask themselves about it. Surely it would possibly avoid a lot of scams if the importer had access to this apparently trivial information about a supplier from China.

So how can you check if a Chinese company exists? Or how can you know about china trade credit?

It is worth to be sure that the company has a legal registration in China.

Entrepreneurs frequently ask for the company’s references, certificates, or financial statements, and at the beginning, it is good to start by checking if you are dealing with a legally registered company or with a cheater. The problem is that the importer believes that if a company has a website or an account on a B2B website, then certainly it exists and runs a legal business. Unfortunately, scammers frequently create invented names to give themselves credibility. It works. If you see that, on the website or in the e-mail signature, a name with the appendage “Co., Ltd.,” you assume that this Chinese company must be legally registered. This blind assumption can cost your company a lot of money. And unfortunately often you cannot do much about it.

The company was registered but the registration has expired.

Another common case is that the business license has expired. Sometimes it turns out that the company had a business license, but it was not renewed. Sometimes scammers use the license of another company that is no longer registered. You should not only check whether the company has a license but also whether it is valid. If not, then you should really reconsider whether you want to import from China using such a supplier. It is worth adding that the risk of fraud in this case increases drastically.
What can we do to protect our company from untrustworthy supplier?

First of all, ask our business partner to show a copy of the business license. With this document, you can check if it is valid and whether it actually belongs to the right company. Transferring other companies’ licenses does happen. You also must be sure that the document has not been fabricated in a graphics program (for example, in Photoshop). Every legally registered Chinese company has a business license, so do not believe in excuses (the most common are: the license is lost or the license is in a locked drawer and the person who has the keys is on vacation). In addition, for Chinese companies, the business license is their most important document.