Dun & Bradstreet is building a global digital economy ecosystem in Hainan, providing services seamlessly connecting 150,000+ Chinese companies with global buyers.

As a wave of digitization sweeps across the world, Hainan's development strategy of 'strength through digitization' is attracting companies from across the globe and creating a blueprint for the development of the digital economy.

In 2022, Dun & Bradstreet, a world-renowned business information service organization, focused the company on Hainan, initiated new development in the free trade port with Chinese characteristics, gathered global data with Hainan as the center, and built a global digital economic ecosystem.

Coming to Hainan - A Strategic Choice

"Dun & Bradstreet was founded in the United States and was originally a commercial credit bureau. The company has witnessed the development of global trade." Wu Guangyu, President of Dun & Bradstreet China, explained that from the thick business rating books of yesterday to the massive data in the cloud today, Dun & Bradstreet has kept pace with the times, analyzing data through advanced technology, serving business, trade, and investment, and creating a vast business information network covering more than 200 countries and regions.

With offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Changsha, Dun & Bradstreet has witnessed and been deeply involved in China's reform and opening-up process, as well as Sino-foreign trade exchanges and cooperation.

On June 1, 2020, the "Overall Plan for the Development of the Hainan Free Trade Port" was released, bringing unprecedented business development opportunities. In 2022, thanks to the unique policy advantages and favorable business environment of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Dun & Bradstreet Hainan officially opened its doors, marking a significant step in its expansion into Chinese mainland.

Recalling the decision to establish the company in Hainan, Wu said, "We reviewed the details of the Hainan Free Trade Port plan, especially the policies for the secure and orderly flow of data. This is crucial. Data is our lifeline - without a free flow, the value of the data cannot be realized."

"Plus, many international companies hope to enter Hainan, and local companies are eager to go overseas. They are all in urgent need of an internationally accepted 'credit language' and 'data map' to clear obstacles." Wu said that as the Haikou Fullsing City Internet Information Industry Park is one of the 13 key industrial parks of the Hainan Free Trade Port and is also a hub for Hainan's digital economy, the company chose to set up business there.

Wu was also deeply impressed by the business environment of the Hainan FTP. "From the Hainan Province government to the industrial park and related government departments, they all provide very considerate and thoughtful services, allowing businesses to quickly launch their operations without going through a lot of red tape." In 2021, a Dun & Bradstreet team visited Hainan. The Hainan company took only one year from planning to launch, and then just two months from submitting documents to beginning official operations. Wu stated that this speed demonstrates the remarkable success of the Hainan FTP in optimizing the business environment. The combination of speed and warmth provided by government departments at all levels gives Dun & Bradstreet confidence in the development of the Hainan FTP.

Important Support - Data and Telecom Service Breakthroughs

Hainan has implemented a series of policies and regulations aimed at developing and strengthening the digital economy. The "Hainan Free Trade Port Digital Economy Promotion Regulations" encourage businesses to fully participate in the development of the digital economy. The "Hainan Free Trade Port International Data Center Development Regulations" are the first provincial-level legislation in China to clarify the international data center system, providing legal protection for the secure and orderly flow of data.

"In Hainan, Dun & Bradstreet mainly carries out data flow security services and pilot projects expanding the opening of value-added telecommunications services." Wu mentioned that these two projects have cleared the long-standing bottlenecks in Dun & Bradstreet's development in China, providing strong support for the company's expansion in the Chinese and even global markets.

The Hainan Free Trade Port's policy of ensuring the safe and orderly flow of data allows Dun & Bradstreet to more smoothly assist Chinese companies to transfer data overseas and consolidate their position in the global trade chain. At the end of 2023, Dun & Bradstreet successfully passed the data outbound security assessment of the Cyberspace Administration of China, becoming the first company in Hainan Province to pass that hurdle. To date, more than 150,000 Chinese companies have achieved seamless connection with global buyers through Dun & Bradstreet's services.

Providing important support for the development of the digital economy, value-added telecommunications services form the core of China's telecommunications market's deepening push to open up to the outside world. In February 2025, the first 13 foreign-funded enterprises were officially approved to operate value-added telecommunications services as pilot projects, including Dun & Bradstreet. Wu pointed out that the expanded pilot program for value-added telecommunications services allowed Dun & Bradstreet to develop applications on the Internet and integrate business data for the first time, assisting in the launch of a supply chain evaluation network and the development of a global data enterprise information platform.

"Dun & Bradstreet not only enjoys the policy benefits of the Hainan FTP, but also appreciates the government's solicitous care for companies." Wu said that the smooth sailing through the data outbound security assessment and rapid issuance of value-added telecommunications business licenses go hand-in-hand with the support and help of government departments. The good atmosphere created by government-corporate cooperation has laid a solid foundation for Dun & Bradstreet's development in Hainan.

Supporting the International Expansion of Chinese Companies

"In China, on average, a small or medium-sized enterprise applies for a DUNS number every 10 minutes." Wu's words reveal the popularity of Dun & Bradstreet services and reflect Chinese companies' strong demand for globalization.

"A DUNS number is the first step for companies to go overseas. It not only helps companies gain the trust of international buyers, but also provides companies with all-round support such as overseas customer acquisition, risk management, and accelerated growth through the global corporate information network." Wu said that whether it is a pharmaceutical company in Hainan or a different kind of company in another part of the country, they can all use Dun & Bradstreet's services to bring their products to the global market.

With the special customs operations of the Hainan FTP about to begin, the data and analytics company Dun & Bradstreet is well aware of the crucial role data plays in driving economic development. Wu revealed that the company plans to position Hainan as a hub for global data integration and develop a high-quality digital economy ecosystem.

Dun & Bradstreet has recently accelerated the development of new products, and is planning to launch a global data-based enterprise information platform at this year's China International Import Expo (CIIE). This platform will aggregate vast amounts of global company information, providing end users with convenient data query services. This will enhance Dun & Bradstreet's competitiveness in the global business information services sector, enabling companies to more broadly integrate international resources and meet their global needs. Wu stated that the launch of this platform will validate the feasibility of global data aggregation in Hainan and inject new vitality into Dun & Bradstreet's development in Hainan.

From the safe and orderly flow of data to the expansion and opening of value-added telecommunications services, and from the launch of a supply chain evaluation network to the development of a global data enterprise information platform, every step Dun & Bradstreet has taken in Hainan has been both solid and powerful.

Due to the active participation of high-quality enterprises, including Dun & Bradstreet, the Hainan Free Trade Port has made excellent progress towards the development goal of ‘strengthening digitization, and the province's digital economy is booming. To date, Hainan’s annual digital economy output value has exceeded 100 billion yuan. 

Wu hopes that more companies will come to the Hainan FTP. No matter if they are software companies or cloud service providers, they are all indispensable partners in building a digital economic ecosystem and spurring the high-quality development of the digital economy of the Hainan Free Trade Port.