China Chengxin International Credit Rating
CCXI, the first rating agency in China, has by now become familiar with moving faster than its peers. A 70/30 joint venture between China Chengxin Credit Management Co and Moody’s, it was the first company to rate an ABS product in China, and has stayed ahead of the pack ever since. It’s chair is Yan Yan.
The company claims to have been the first in China to rate everything from RMBS to static cash flow CLOs and from non-performing loan securitization to microfinance deals.
In the exchange market, CCXI mainly operates through a wholly owned subsidiary, China Chengxin Securities Rating (CCXR). Between 2015 and 2017, CCXR rated nearly 200 more transactions than its closest rival, almost a fifth of the whole market.
The products CCXR worked on had underlying assets ranging from credit assets such as mortgages, financial leases, account receivables and microloans, to assets backed by other types of receivables such as water supply, natural gas, public transport, solar power generation, ports, schools, toll roads and admission tickets.
During our awards period, CCXI and CCXR not only dominated in market share but also led in the rating of innovative products, such as the first certified ‘double-green’ CLO, Nongying 2017-1, the first ABN backed by balance payments in housing purchase for Yango Group Co, the first green ABN backed by bus fare receivables for Kunshan Public Transport, and the first property management fee-backed ABN for China Railway Construction Corp.
These firsts are quickly forgotten in a fast-growing market. But for innovations to happen in ABS, a rating analyst somewhere needs to work hard at understanding something entirely new. CCXI’s did most of that work this year – just as they have from the very beginning.