CHINA will allow overseas credit information firms to participate in a nationwide credit information monitoring system that the central bank is building, China Daily reported Thursday, citing a senior central bank official.

Wan Cunzhi, director-general of the People Bank of China’s Credit Information System Bureau, told the newspaper the system will assess the debt payment abilities of businesses and individuals in the country.

The newspaper said U.S. credit information servicer Dun & Bradstreet Corp. had registered with the central bank in 2017 to be a part of the program, while the central bank finished reviewing an application by the Chinese subsidiary of credit data company Experian PLC in September.

The newspaper, citing a source familiar with the situation, added that an Italian credit information service company was also preparing to register.

China’s existing, centralized credit scoring system, the Credit Reference Center, only covers about 300 million people out of around 800 million potential borrowers. That creates a blind spot of some half a billion borrowers. (SD-Agencies)