Rooted for 45 Years, This American Enterprise Witnesses China's "Mutual Rush" to Expand Opening-Up

Against the backdrop of profound adjustments in the global economic and trade landscape, a U.S. company with a 184-year history is demonstrating the deep logic of high-level opening-up through its 45 years of dedicated practice in China.

Dun & Bradstreet, founded in 1841, a global credit reporting giant, has been in China since 1981. It has benefited from reform and opening-up and has become a “ferryman” for Chinese companies to go global. From initially helping foreign-invested enterprises “come in,” to now assisting Chinese firms on a large scale to “go out,” Dun & Bradstreet’s evolving business in China reflects the changing ways China interacts with the world.

Taking the “14th Five-Year Plan” period as an example, benefiting from China’s high-level opening-up policies, Dun & Bradstreet was not only among the first companies to pass the data outbound security assessment for the Hainan Free Trade Port but also became one of the first foreign-invested enterprises to obtain expanded access to value-added telecom services in 2025. On the other hand, leveraging its global data network and local innovation, it has become an indispensable partner for countless Chinese companies on their “going out” journey—helping them understand global markets, identify potential risks, and establish trustworthy business identities in unfamiliar lands.

From a beneficiary of opening-up to a facilitator of outbound expansion, Wu Guangyu, President of Dun & Bradstreet China, told Guancha.cn that this role transformation is driven by the vitality of China’s market openness, which has fostered unique innovative inspiration—such as the “LongyiCha” platform launched for consumers, a product born in China and unprecedented in form.

Wu Guangyu, President of Dun & Bradstreet China

Recently, Guancha.cn had a dialogue with Wu Guangyu, discussing how Dun & Bradstreet has transitioned from a “beneficiary” of openness to an “enabler” for Chinese companies going abroad. Here is the transcript:

Guancha.cn: In recent years, some anti-globalization phenomena have appeared in the global trade and economic field, but China remains steadfast in expanding opening-up, as mentioned in the 14th Five-Year Plan, which emphasizes promoting multi-field cooperation and win-win outcomes. Could you share which measures during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) have benefited Dun & Bradstreet from this expanded openness?

Wu Guangyu: First, the surge of Chinese companies going abroad during the “14th Five-Year Plan” has created huge business opportunities for us.

China’s continuous expansion of high-level opening-up, attracting foreign investment and encouraging Chinese enterprises to go global, has fostered a healthy dual circulation of domestic and international markets. The globalization process of Chinese companies has accelerated significantly—whether in engineering machinery, new energy, cross-border e-commerce, supply chain outbound, or manufacturing localization—all urgently need trustworthy data to “understand the global, identify risks, and find partners,” which is precisely where Dun & Bradstreet’s strengths lie.

We serve thousands of industry-leading enterprises that are driving digital transformation and gradually growing into global companies. Dun & Bradstreet helps them unlock data application potential, solve bottlenecks in their globalization process, and explore industry prospects. Emerging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with stronger innovation vitality, benefit from data empowerment—helping these companies showcase themselves globally through services like D-U-N-S® Number and Dun & Bradstreet registration, updating their business information into global databases, forming a data-driven business network, and amplifying the productivity of these emerging industries. To date, we have issued over 500,000 D-U-N-S® Numbers to Chinese companies, achieving remarkable milestones during the “14th Five-Year Plan.”

Second, China’s high-level opening-up has provided institutional support and policy space for Dun & Bradstreet’s development in China. For example, we directly benefit from the institutional innovations of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

The breakthroughs in data security and orderly flow, as well as the opening of value-added telecom services in Hainan, have created real policy space for global data service providers like us. Thanks to these opening measures, we became one of the first companies in Hainan to pass the national cybersecurity review for data outbound security, and in 2025, we became one of the first foreign-invested enterprises to pilot expanded access to value-added telecom services. This made possible the internet-related businesses we had long wanted to develop but couldn’t due to licensing restrictions.

Dun & Bradstreet has expanded its business in China by leveraging open policies, and through our global data capabilities and local innovation, we support Chinese companies in integrating into international markets, forming a healthy two-way cycle.

Guancha.cn: Recently, Hainan Island has been fully closed off, marking a new stage in the construction of the Free Trade Port. As an existing foreign-invested enterprise in Hainan, what are your impressions? Can you feel a significant increase in foreign trade, economic cooperation, and personnel flow?

Wu Guangyu: Since the full closure of Hainan in December last year, we have felt an increasing demand for foreign trade and economic cooperation. The upstream and downstream ecosystems are accelerating their layout, and some new clients are seeking cooperation. For example, one client wants to build a cross-border e-commerce live streaming base in Hainan and provide outbound consulting and training services. During this process, they need support from global data resources and approached us for cooperation. The “closure” has driven the prosperity of the foreign trade ecosystem and brought many new opportunities for Dun & Bradstreet.

Meanwhile, our Hainan business is progressing steadily. We have issued D-U-N-S® Numbers to more Chinese companies, helping them integrate into the global trade chain. Our “LongyiCha” global enterprise information platform, launched under the free trade port policy, has also achieved good results, with users exceeding 100,000. Many SMEs and individuals use LongyiCha to access global enterprise information, greatly lowering data access barriers. We look forward to further leveraging our advantages as a leading global data service provider during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, helping build Hainan into a data highland.

Guancha.cn: Many local governments are increasingly focusing on services that support enterprises in both bringing in and going out. What are some collaborations between Dun & Bradstreet and local governments? Are there any government outbound services worth emulating?

Wu Guangyu: The “14th Five-Year Plan” emphasizes improving comprehensive overseas service systems, promoting integrated trade and investment, and guiding rational cross-border layout of industry and supply chains. Local governments are building enterprise outbound service platforms, integrating information, compliance, risk, and professional services to support outward investment systematically. Recently, Dun & Bradstreet has cooperated with cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Suzhou to co-develop cross-border service ecosystems.

For example, our partnership with Shanghai Lingang, led by Lingang Cross-border Data Science, has created a global business data service platform. It centers on global commercial data, integrating functions like information inquiry, credit assessment, compliance screening, and policy interpretation. It addresses core pain points faced by Chinese companies going abroad—such as information asymmetry, high compliance costs, and risk identification—aiming to establish a “rule-compatible, technology-implementable, scene-reproducible” new paradigm for global business data services.

With global data resources and over three centuries of international service experience, Dun & Bradstreet understands international trade rules well. We transform mature data and tools into platform-ready, sustainable public services that help government outbound service platforms enhance their depth and practicality.

For government platforms, such collaboration can provide targeted international information services at relatively low marginal costs, improving efficiency in market selection, partner screening, and early risk assessment. SMEs can also, with government support, establish internationally recognized business identities and credit foundations more easily, increasing their visibility and credibility in global supply chains.

In the future, Dun & Bradstreet will actively cooperate with government agencies to provide infrastructure-like services for Chinese companies’ outbound efforts, helping them “understand” overseas markets and be “understood” by international markets—facilitating safe, compliant, and efficient integration into the global trade network.

Guancha.cn: We know Dun & Bradstreet has served many Chinese internet giants in their international expansion. What risks do they face when going abroad? How does Dun & Bradstreet’s global presence help them mitigate overseas risks?

Wu Guangyu: Many Chinese internet giants are accelerating their global expansion—whether through platforms, e-commerce, or content—and face common issues: difficulty in understanding trading partners, slow business growth, and uncontrollable overseas risks. Typical risks include opaque overseas merchant identities, ad and traffic fraud, payment and refund risks, cross-jurisdictional content compliance pressures, and credit risks of agents, channels, and KOLs. As their business grows, these risks multiply.

Dun & Bradstreet’s advantage lies in our local teams and data nodes worldwide, providing global coverage of corporate identity recognition, registration info, risk signals, and credit models. We help companies see their overseas trading partners clearly before issues arise. For example, Alibaba uses Dun & Bradstreet’s global data system for automated verification of overseas sellers; a fast-growing cross-border e-commerce platform uses our global registration data to complete KYC in seconds.

Take Alibaba: during rapid overseas expansion, they faced multiple risks—such as missing or opaque buyer/seller info, difficulty verifying entities, and data duplication or errors. After partnering with us, Alibaba purchased Dun & Bradstreet’s global enterprise data—over 600 million records—updated daily, integrated into their group data platform, managing global enterprise info via Dun & Bradstreet codes. This supports marketing, credit control, and compliance across various business units, improving risk assessment efficiency and simplifying workflows, such as risk management of overseas suppliers, supporting Cainiao logistics’ international growth.

Dun & Bradstreet enables companies to quickly grasp global enterprise identities, credit histories, and risk info, allowing them to “see clearly” wherever they do business—confident to grow and grow steadily.

Guancha.cn: Dun & Bradstreet has been registered as a credit reporting agency by the People’s Bank of China. Compared to domestic credit agencies, what advantages do foreign-invested agencies have? What clients in the financial sector do you serve?

Wu Guangyu: Dun & Bradstreet is the first foreign-invested credit reporting agency registered with the PBOC and the sole operator of the Hong Kong SAR’s Commercial Credit Data Warehouse. We have long served financial institutions in marketing, due diligence, credit decision-making, and risk management.

Compared to traditional domestic credit agencies, our advantages are mainly twofold:

First, our global data resources and unified enterprise identity system. Our Data Cloud covers over 200 countries and regions, with comprehensive data on company registration, risk signals, ownership structures, operational behaviors, and payment records, all identified via Dun & Bradstreet codes as a global enterprise ID. For financial institutions, this means regardless of whether a client is overseas or domestic, they can “see clearly, verify accurately, and monitor continuously.” This is especially important in cross-border finance—such as our participation in the Greater Bay Area’s “Southbound” and “Northbound” credit connectivity initiatives, which provide targeted integrated data to improve transparency and enable smarter credit evaluation. For example, HSBC Hong Kong and Bank of China Hong Kong, with client consent, can access credit data of mainland enterprises in Hong Kong, facilitating due diligence and credit approval, shortening approval times, and strengthening risk management—supporting high-quality development in the Bay Area.

Second, our deep understanding of financial scenarios and compliance capabilities. We not only provide high-quality, reliable data but also embed credit, risk management, compliance review, and intelligent monitoring into financial workflows. Many banks, for instance, use our global data and scoring models to improve customer onboarding, identity verification, credit approval, and post-loan management—shifting from manual due diligence to digital risk prediction.

In China, we serve banks, insurance companies, factoring firms, small loans, and supply chain finance clients—including large state-owned banks and city commercial banks like Ningbo Bank. For example, Ningbo Bank’s “Bobo ZhiLiao” platform integrates our data deeply, allowing clients to access real-time info on their transaction counterparts, greatly enhancing risk control and service efficiency.

Overall, Chinese financial institutions’ demand for digitalization and internationalization is growing, and high-level opening-up makes cross-border finance more frequent and complex. Dun & Bradstreet’s global data and risk insights can play a vital role, helping the financial industry operate more securely across borders and making Chinese companies more resilient and competitive in global supply chains and financial systems.

Guancha.cn: Since entering China over 40 years ago, Dun & Bradstreet has been a beneficiary of China’s opening-up. Now, it also serves as a strong supporter for Chinese companies going abroad. Does this offer any insights for global policymakers? Is globalization more beneficial or harmful for an economy?

Wu Guangyu: Dun & Bradstreet has been in China for 45 years, witnessing and deeply benefiting from China’s high-level opening-up. More importantly, as Chinese companies go global on a large scale, we have shifted from being a beneficiary of openness to becoming an important partner in helping Chinese companies “go out.” The stable development of our China business shows that the more open an economy is, the more it can unleash innovation and upgrade industries, maintaining resilience in global competition. China’s openness has helped us grow, and our global capabilities, in turn, help countless Chinese companies integrate into the global industrial chain.

China’s market features high diversity, complex scenarios, and strong demand for customization. This open environment allows us to combine Dun & Bradstreet’s global data with China’s local innovation, creating solutions tailored to local needs but aligned with international rules. Examples include LongyiCha, China Business Insights, and global registration data—innovations that are rare in overseas markets, which tend to favor standardized products. It’s China’s openness and vitality that have fostered these new growth points.

I believe the benefits or drawbacks of globalization for an economy depend on its risk resilience—specifically, whether it can establish trustworthy global business relationships and manage cross-border risks. For an economy, the opportunities brought by openness far outweigh the risks: resource allocation efficiency improves, companies’ global competitiveness strengthens, and innovation factors flow more rapidly. As long as rules are clear, regulation is sound, and data and resource flows are safe and controllable, globalization remains a key driver of long-term healthy economic development.