Chinese data provider tightens some information access for offshore users

Chinese financial data provider Wind Information Co has blocked some offshore users from accessing certain business and economic data, people with knowledge of the matter said, fuelling concern about information access in the world’s second-largest economy.
Wind, one of the biggest Chinese data aggregators, has made part of its data inaccessible for users based outside the Chinese mainland, said six people, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
Shanghai-based Wind did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment during China’s “Golden Week” holiday period.
Offshore users’ access to information that has been blocked includes business registry details such as a company shareholding structure and its ultimate controller, as well as macroeconomic data like land sales in certain cities, said the sources.
Some Wind data such as home sale numbers that used to be updated regularly has been inaccessible to users outside of the Chinese mainland since last September, one of the sources said.