D&B vs a China Report: What Each Answers

If you need a credit view of a Chinese supplier, the two usual routes are a global business-information provider such as Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), or a report built specifically from Chinese registry and court records. They are not interchangeable. They answer different questions, and in some situations you need both.

The short version:

• Use D&B when someone else requires a D&B product (a bank, credit insurer or procurement system that works with D&B ratings), when you want payment-behaviour data, or when you check companies in many countries and want one format.
• Use a China-focused report when you need to see the Chinese records themselves in English: registration and status, shareholders, lawsuits, enforcement and dishonest-debtor lists, administrative penalties and tax credit rating, at a price you can see before you buy.

The rest of this page goes through the questions buyers actually ask and says which route answers each one.

What D&B says it offers for China

D&B is not new to China. According to its July 2024 Greater Bay Area announcement, D&B entered the Chinese mainland in 1994, has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Changsha and Haikou as well as Hong Kong, and since 2017 has been "the first licensed foreign-invested commercial credit reference agency in the Chinese Mainland." That release launched China Business Credit Reports aimed at lenders assessing mainland businesses that seek finance in the Greater Bay Area.

D&B Hong Kong's page for its China Business Insights credit module lists:

• payment data and payment behaviour;
• financial performance, including "financial analysis results of non-listed companies";
• the D&B Failure Score and D&B PAYDEX Score, within a proprietary risk scoring and rating system.

D&B's ratings documentation for China describes the D&B Rating as two parts: a composite credit appraisal (from High to Undermined) and a Financial Strength Indicator based on net worth, in RMB bands from 5A (RMB 450 million or more) down to H (under RMB 200,000). Codes such as O (undisclosed) and NB (new business under 24 months) appear when the underlying figures are not available.

Not stated on those pages: a price for a single China report, the number of Chinese companies covered, or the delivery time. The China module page asks you to request a consultation. D&B's one-off Business Information Report on dnb.com is priced online, but the page says those prices apply to reports on U.S. and Canadian businesses.

What a China-focused report covers

We can only describe our own report in detail, so here is what the ChineseCheck Company Credit Report ($299) contains, from the published sample: registration and business scope, shareholders and ownership structure, annual report analysis, registration changes, tax credit rating, import/export qualifications and customs credit, litigation and court records, administrative and environmental penalties, enforcement, dishonest-debtor and consumption-restriction records, operational exceptions, patents and trademarks, certificates, bidding records, financing, hiring and social insurance trends, a credit score with its breakdown, and a risk summary. Records are matched to one legal entity by its 18-character Unified Social Credit Code.

The $599 check adds a separate invoice-based financial report: monthly invoice activity, named direct customers and suppliers, concentration, and invoice reversals.

Other China-focused providers exist, and their contents differ. Read their sample reports the same way.

Question by question

Two rows deserve emphasis because they cut against us. If your credit decision depends on how a company pays its suppliers, D&B has a data type we don't. And if a counterparty, bank or insurer specifies D&B, nothing else will satisfy that requirement.

When to use both

Large buyers often use D&B as the standard credit check across all suppliers and add a China-specific report when a Chinese supplier crosses a threshold: a first large deposit, a sole-source part, or a supplier whose English name doesn't match anything. The China-specific report then answers the questions a global format leaves general: which court cases, which penalties, which shareholders. This guide on due diligence for Chinese companies walks through the full sequence.

Questions to ask any provider before you buy

Whichever route you take, these questions separate a useful report from a thin one:

1. Which legal entity will the report cover? Ask for the Chinese name and Unified Social Credit Code before you pay. English trading names are not registered in mainland China.
2. Are court and enforcement records listed case by case, or only summarised as a score?
3. What happens when a record type returns nothing? "Not found" and "not checked" are different answers.
4. How old is the data? Ask for the query date of each section.
5. Is there a sample report from a real company?
6. Is the subject company notified? ChineseCheck does not contact the company you check.

The limits of our reports

We don't sell monitoring or trade-payment data, and we cover mainland China only (Hong Kong companies are handled on request). Our financial report reads invoice records. Those records are not audited accounts, and some companies have no usable invoice data; when we already know that, only the credit report is offered for that company. These limits are why D&B remains the right choice for some of the questions above.

Frequently asked questions

Does Dun & Bradstreet cover Chinese companies?

Yes. D&B has operated in the Chinese mainland since 1994 and, according to its own announcement, has been a licensed foreign-invested commercial credit reference agency there since 2017. Its China ratings documentation uses RMB net-worth bands.

Is D&B better than a China-specific report?

Neither is better in general. D&B is stronger on payment behaviour and when a D&B rating is required. A China-specific report is more direct on registry, court and penalty records in English.

How much does a D&B report on a Chinese company cost?

D&B does not publish a price for China reports; its China product page asks you to request a consultation. The prices listed for its online Business Information Report apply to U.S. and Canadian businesses.

Can I check a Chinese company's records myself for free?

Partly. The national enterprise credit system publishes registration data and annual reports, in Chinese. Our GSXT search guide shows how to use it, and our free preview shows registration and industry data in English.

Does a China-focused report replace a factory audit?

No. A records check tells you what the company is on paper and in court. An on-site audit tells you what is on the factory floor. See China factory audit for when you need one.

Sources

All D&B pages accessed October 22, 2026.

• Dun & Bradstreet Hong Kong, "Dun & Bradstreet Launches Greater Bay Area China Business Credit Reports Solution," July 5, 2024: https://www.dnb.com.hk/news-events/news/8
• Dun & Bradstreet Hong Kong, China Business Insights – Credit Module: https://www.dnb.com.hk/products-services/products/china-data-platform-for-corporate/china-business-insights-credit-module
• Dun & Bradstreet, D&B Rating documentation for China (CN): https://docs.dnb.com/reference/ratings/en-US/iso-country/CN
• Dun & Bradstreet, Business Information Report product page: https://www.dnb.com/en-us/products/dnb-business-information-report.html
• ChineseCheck report contents: sample reports