RatingDog

RatingDog, formally Shenzhen RatingDog Information Technology Co., Ltd., is a privately held Chinese financial-technology and credit-research company headquartered in Shenzhen. Established in 2017 by Yao Yu, the firm developed around the need for independent, detailed analysis of Chinese credit markets, particularly the domestic bond market and issuers whose risks may not be fully captured by conventional rating information. Its business combines research, data products, and subscription software for professional investors. The company’s principal research activity operates under the YY Rating identity. It provides independent credit assessments and related information on Chinese bond issuers, including high-yield borrowers and local government financing vehicles. Its software-as-a-service platform reportedly covers more than 8,000 Chinese bond issuers and is intended for institutional users such as hedge funds, commercial banks, asset managers, and other financial professionals. By presenting issuer-level credit research alongside market and macroeconomic data, RatingDog positions itself as an alternative analytical source to traditional state-sanctioned ratings and official statistical releases. RatingDog’s data business expanded through a strategic investment by Wind Information in December 2023. Wind is a leading mainland Chinese financial-data provider, and the relationship enabled RatingDog’s specialist credit research to be incorporated into the Wind terminal, a widely used platform among Chinese investment professionals. The arrangement increased the distribution of RatingDog’s research and connected its products with a broader institutional data ecosystem. Reference material also identifies China Securities Credit Promotion as an early incubator and an institutional backer, although the precise current ownership structure is not specified here. The company gained broader international visibility in 2025 through a naming-rights agreement with S&P Global. Under the arrangement, the survey previously known as the Caixin China Purchasing Managers’ Index was renamed the RatingDog China PMI from August 2025. The index comprises monthly manufacturing and services surveys focused particularly on China’s private sector and smaller businesses. S&P Global remains responsible for the survey’s data compilation and methodology, while RatingDog’s name is attached through the sponsorship or naming arrangement. The association places the company alongside a widely followed economic indicator used by investors and economists to assess private-sector activity, employment, demand, and business conditions in China. RatingDog’s analytical role is often understood in comparison with figures published by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Its credit research and PMI-related data do not replace official statistics; rather, they offer additional private-sector and market-oriented perspectives. This distinction is especially relevant for investors examining small and medium-sized enterprises, credit stress, employment conditions, and local-government-linked financing. The company’s reported customer base includes more than 200 global and domestic financial institutions. Its present business scope therefore spans credit intelligence, fixed-income research, institutional data distribution, and macroeconomic survey branding, with China as its core market and international investors as an important audience.

RatingDog was founded in 2017 in Shenzhen by Yao Yu, an experienced participant in China’s credit-rating industry. The company was initially incubated by China Securities Credit Promotion and developed as a specialist provider of independent credit analysis for China’s domestic bond market. Its early proposition was to give professional investors a more granular view of issuer quality, leverage, repayment capacity, and credit risk than could be obtained from headline ratings alone. As the business matured, RatingDog combined research with structured financial data and subscription software. Its platform expanded coverage to more than 8,000 Chinese bond issuers, creating a research and monitoring resource for institutional investors dealing with a large and diverse fixed-income market. The firm’s YY Rating activities became associated with independent assessments of corporate borrowers, high-yield bonds, and local government financing vehicles. The company’s intended users include hedge funds, banks, asset managers, and other institutions requiring issuer-level credit intelligence. A significant distribution milestone came in December 2023, when Wind Information made a strategic investment in RatingDog. The relationship gave RatingDog access to Wind’s established professional terminal and allowed its credit research to be incorporated into a principal channel used by Chinese financial-market participants. This expanded the reach of the company’s data products while linking its specialist research to a broader market-information infrastructure. Reference material also describes China Securities Credit Promotion as an early incubator and institutional supporter, but does not provide enough information to establish a complete current shareholder structure. RatingDog’s profile broadened in 2025 beyond issuer research and fixed-income analytics. It entered a naming-rights arrangement with S&P Global concerning the China Purchasing Managers’ Index. From August 2025, the former Caixin PMI was presented as the RatingDog China PMI. The survey covers manufacturing and services and is designed to illuminate conditions among China’s private-sector businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises. S&P Global continues to handle compilation and methodology, so RatingDog’s role is primarily associated with sponsorship, branding, and the broader distribution of the indicator rather than independent production of the survey series. The PMI association gave RatingDog an international-facing economic-data profile. The indicator is commonly considered alongside official data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, offering a private-sector and survey-based view of activity, employment, demand, and business confidence. RatingDog’s wider business remains centered on institutional financial information, independent credit research, and Chinese market intelligence. The company reportedly serves more than 200 global and domestic financial institutions and remains privately held.

• 2025

  RatingDog China PMI naming arrangement begins

  [1]RatingDogen.wikipedia.org

  An agreement with S&P Global renamed the former Caixin PMI as the RatingDog China PMI from August 2025.

• 2023

  Wind Information makes a strategic investment

  [1]RatingDogen.wikipedia.org

  Wind Information invested in RatingDog and helped bring its specialist credit research onto the Wind financial-data terminal.

• 2017

  RatingDog is established

  [1]RatingDogen.wikipedia.org

  Yao Yu founded RatingDog in Shenzhen as an independent credit-research and financial-technology company focused on China’s domestic bond market.

Independent financial data and credit intelligence for institutional investors, with an emphasis on Chinese bond issuers, private-sector conditions, and alternative perspectives to official statistics and traditional ratings.

• Independent credit research

  YY Rating

  YY Rating is RatingDog’s independent credit-analysis offering for Chinese bond issuers. It supplies issuer research and alternative assessments intended to help professional investors evaluate corporate bonds, high-yield debt, and local government financing vehicles. The service is positioned as a research complement to conventional ratings and is distributed through RatingDog’s own data products and, following the Wind investment, through the Wind terminal.

• Macroeconomic indicator · 2025

  RatingDog China PMI

  The RatingDog China PMI is the branded form of a monthly manufacturing and services purchasing-managers’ survey associated with China’s private sector. The survey is used to interpret business activity, demand, employment, and operating conditions, especially among smaller and medium-sized enterprises. S&P Global remains responsible for compiling the data and maintaining the methodology, while RatingDog’s role is linked to the naming-rights arrangement that took effect in August 2025.

• Financial-data SaaS

  RatingDog bond-issuer coverage platform

  RatingDog operates a subscription software platform that organizes credit research and market information for Chinese bond issuers. Reference material describes coverage of more than 8,000 issuers. The platform is designed for institutional users that need ongoing monitoring of issuer quality, credit risk, and fixed-income markets rather than one-time ratings alone.

• Rebranding of the Caixin PMI as the RatingDog China PMI

  Source

Read more

• 2025RatingDog China PMI naming partnership

  China · International financial markets

  RatingDog partnered with S&P Global in a naming-rights arrangement under which the former Caixin China PMI was presented as the RatingDog China PMI from August 2025. The arrangement connected RatingDog with a widely followed economic indicator covering China’s manufacturing and services sectors.

  Outcome. The agreement increased RatingDog’s international visibility and extended its brand from specialist credit research into macroeconomic data. S&P Global continued to manage the survey’s compilation and methodology.

  Source

• 2025

  Expansion into branded macroeconomic indicatorsStrategy

  Background

  RatingDog’s established credit-research business was primarily associated with Chinese bond issuers and institutional fixed-income analysis.

  Action taken

  The company entered a naming-rights agreement with S&P Global for the China PMI, with the RatingDog China PMI name taking effect in August 2025.

  Aftermath

  The arrangement broadened RatingDog’s public profile and associated the brand with a major monthly indicator of private-sector economic conditions in China.

  Source

• 2023

  Strategic investment and terminal integration with Wind InformationM&A

  Background

  RatingDog sought wider institutional distribution for its independent credit research and financial data in China.

  Action taken

  Wind Information made a strategic investment and integrated RatingDog’s specialist credit research into the Wind terminal.

  Aftermath

  The relationship expanded access to RatingDog’s research among professional users of China’s major financial-data platform. The transaction’s financial terms are not specified.

  Source

1. 1RatingDogen.wikipedia.org