In recent years, with a view to supporting and boosting the development of China’s credit rating institutions, improving credit rating quality and raising the credibility of credit rating, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) has, in collaboration with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and other departments, continuously improved system design and proactively pushed forward the integration of the credit rating business with the principle of “under government guidance and with market playing a leading role”. In September 2018, the PBC and the CSRC jointly issued Announcement No. 14, which stated that “different incorporated credit rating institutions under the same actual controller shall be encouraged to be integrated by market-oriented means such as merger and reorganization so as to better gather talents and technical resources and help the credit rating institutions become bigger and stronger.”
Recently, based on preparations made by all parties concerned in the previous stage, the CSRC has officially approved the credit rating business license of China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd. (CCXI) in the securities market and canceled the credit rating business license of China Chengxin Securities Rating Co., Ltd. in the securities market. This move marked the first cross-market integration of a Chinese credit rating agency and significant progress made by the PBC and CSRC following Announcement No. 14 [2018] in prompting the integration of domestic credit rating agencies. It will help close the gap of rating levels between markets, push forward interconnectivity in China’s bond market, drive the high-quality development of China’s credit rating business and bond market, and help China’s credit rating agencies go global with greater international influence.
Looking forward, the PBC, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and CSRC will step up coordination and collaboration, and reinforce joint regulatory efforts to push forward the high-quality development of China’s credit rating business and financial markets.
