Asia-Pacific is not one data market but a collection of wildly different ones. China and India each have over 80 million businesses and walled-off data ecosystems dominated by local players. Japan has a century-old business-information industry built around Teikoku Databank and Tokyo Shoko Research. South Korea's market revolves around NICE and DART. Singapore is the region's KYB hub, and Australia runs a clean, paid register similar to the UK.

What connects them is the difficulty of cross-border coverage. No single provider covers APAC well. The global players (D&B, Experian, Creditsafe) have a presence in most markets but local depth varies enormously. The strongest local players (Qichacha in China, Tofler in India, NICE in Korea) rarely extend beyond their own borders.

This guide covers {count} providers that work across Asia-Pacific markets, and links to our dedicated country guides below.

In a hurry? The short answer

Cross-border coverage and D-U-N-S

Dun & Bradstreet · The widest APAC footprint, with local partners in every major market

Japanese business intelligence

Teikoku Databank / TSR · The two local giants, each with 100+ years of history

Chinese company data

Qichacha / Tianyancha · The dominant lookup apps, covering 200M+ entities each

SE-Asia KYB and registry data

Handshakes · ASEAN registry data and corporate-network analysis from Singapore

Australian and NZ credit

Equifax / illion · The two local bureaus covering Australia and New Zealand

All APAC markets in one format

CompanyData · That is us. One schema across Asia-Pacific and beyond

Jump to a provider

1. Dun & Bradstreet Asia-Pacific: the cross-border default

The widest APAC footprint and the only global identifier (D-U-N-S) that works across the region.

Dun & Bradstreet operates through owned entities and local partners across Asia-Pacific, from D&B Japan and D&B Australia to Huaxia D&B in China and local partners in Southeast Asia. The D-U-N-S number is the only identifier that ties an entity in Tokyo to one in Mumbai or Sydney. For supply-chain risk, compliance and credit decisions that span APAC markets, D&B's network is the default, even though local depth varies by market.

Regional offices across APAC · Enterprise pricing · Built on: National registers, Local partners, D&B network

✓ Why it stands out

  • D-U-N-S linkage across all APAC markets
  • Local partners in China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia
  • The standard for multi-country compliance

⚠ Watch out for

  • Enterprise pricing
  • Local depth trails national incumbents in Japan and Korea
  • Contact data is not its strength

2. CompanyData

Full disclosure: where CompanyData fits in Asia-Pacific

We publish this guide and we sell Asia-Pacific business data. Our APAC file covers every market on this page and more, with entity records, contact data and corporate linkage in one schema. We are honest about the gaps: our Chinese and Japanese files are strong on entity count but thinner on contacts than the local incumbents, and we do not provide credit reports or field-researched data.

For credit in Japan, use TDB or TSR. For Chinese company data in Chinese, use Qichacha. For ASEAN KYB, use Handshakes. For reach across every APAC market in one English-language format, come to us.

150M+

Asia-Pacific businesses

100M+

with a contact named

30M+

phone or mobile

10M+

email addresses

China and India together account for over 160M entities. See our Asia-Pacific data for the full regional file.

See our Asia-Pacific business data

3. Teikoku Databank (TDB): Japan's century-old giant

Unmatched in Japan, with investigative reports that go far deeper than any register extract.

Teikoku Databank, founded in 1900, covers 1.6M+ Japanese companies with investigative reports that include financial data, payment behaviour, management assessments and industry context. Its reports are field-researched, not scraped, giving them a depth no register extract matches. For anyone doing business in Japan, TDB and its rival TSR are the two providers that matter. Coverage outside Japan is minimal, handled through D&B partnerships.

Tokyo, Japan · Per report and enterprise · Built on: Own field research, Financial data, Payment behaviour

✓ Why it stands out

  • 1.6M+ companies with field-researched reports
  • Unmatched depth in Japan
  • Over 120 years of business-information history

⚠ Watch out for

  • Japan-only
  • Japanese-language platform
  • Premium pricing for the depth

4. Handshakes (DC Frontiers): the ASEAN KYB platform

The leading ASEAN registry-and-KYB platform, backed by S&P Global and Nikkei.

Handshakes covers millions of entities across ASEAN and China with registry data, litigation data, corporate-network analysis and beneficial-ownership mapping. As an ACRA-authorised data provider backed by S&P Global and Nikkei, it bridges the gap between Singapore's clean register and the more opaque markets around it. For KYB, due diligence and corporate-network intelligence in Southeast Asia, Handshakes is the strongest local platform.

Singapore · Subscription and API · Built on: ACRA, ASEAN registers, Litigation data

✓ Why it stands out

  • ASEAN registry data and network analysis
  • Beneficial-ownership mapping
  • Backed by S&P Global and Nikkei

⚠ Watch out for

  • ASEAN-focused, limited outside the region
  • Not a credit bureau
  • Pricing not public

5. Qichacha / Tianyancha (China): China's dominant lookup apps

The two largest Chinese company-data platforms, each covering 200M+ entities behind the Great Firewall.

Qichacha and Tianyancha are the two dominant company-lookup apps in China, each covering over 200 million entities from SAIC registration data, court filings, intellectual property and financing data. They are the tools Chinese professionals use daily for due diligence, supplier checks and competitor research. For non-Chinese users, the platforms are in Chinese and geared toward domestic workflows, which is why most foreign companies access Chinese data through D&B or intermediaries.

Beijing, China · Freemium to enterprise · Built on: SAIC, NECIPS, Court records, IP filings

✓ Why it stands out

  • 200M+ Chinese entities each
  • Real-time registration, litigation and IP data
  • Used daily by Chinese professionals

⚠ Watch out for

  • Chinese-language platforms
  • Designed for domestic users
  • Data export and API access gated

6. Equifax / illion (Australia & NZ): the ANZ credit bureaus

The two bureaus that dominate Australian and New Zealand business credit.

Equifax and illion (formerly Dun & Bradstreet Australia, now independent) are the two credit bureaus that dominate Australian and New Zealand business credit. For lenders, insurers and corporates doing credit checks on ANZ businesses, these are the default providers. Equifax also has a presence in other APAC markets, while illion is ANZ-focused. For Australian business credit, both are well-established and competitive.

Sydney, Australia · Quote only · Built on: ASIC, NZBN, Credit data

✓ Why it stands out

  • Dominant in Australian and NZ business credit
  • Established bureau infrastructure
  • Credit reports, scores and monitoring

⚠ Watch out for

  • ANZ-focused, limited elsewhere in APAC
  • Not prospecting or contact tools
  • Enterprise-oriented

Want to weigh all the options yourself?

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Why APAC data is so fragmented

Each market developed its business-data infrastructure independently, with wildly different openness:

Structural · China and India: walled gardens

China's company data sits behind the Great Firewall with local apps (Qichacha, Tianyancha) dominating. India's MCA publishes data but local players (Tofler, Probe42) add the usability layer.

1900 · Japan builds its own tradition

Teikoku Databank, founded in 1900, creates a field-research-based business-information industry that Japan has maintained for over a century, independent of the global D&B model.

Ongoing · Singapore becomes the KYB hub

Singapore's clean register, finance-hub status and strong local players like Handshakes make it the natural base for Southeast Asian KYB and corporate-intelligence work.

2020s · Cross-border still hard

No single provider covers APAC well. D&B comes closest via local partners, but local depth always trails national incumbents. The region's fragmentation is structural, not transitional.

The Asia-Pacific data landscape

Strong national incumbents in each market, with D&B the only cross-border thread:

APAC-based players

  • Teikoku Databank / TSR (Japan)
  • NICE / Kodata (South Korea)
  • Qichacha / Tianyancha (China)
  • Handshakes (Singapore)
  • illion (Australia/NZ)
  • Tofler / Probe42 (India)

Global players in APAC

  • Dun & Bradstreet APAC (D&B, US)
  • Experian APAC (Experian)
  • Creditsafe (Creditsafe Group)
  • Equifax (Equifax, US)

A region of walled gardens

Asia-Pacific's data challenge is not volume but access. China has 200M+ registered entities and a thriving data-tech industry, but it is built for Chinese users in Chinese behind domestic platforms. India has 80M+ businesses and strong local KYB players, but the MCA register requires navigation. Japan has the world's deepest investigative business reports, but they are in Japanese and priced for enterprise. South Korea publishes corporate filings on DART, but the data services around it are Korean-language.

For cross-border work, the practical options are D&B (the only global identifier that works across APAC), Creditsafe and Experian (consistent scoring in selected markets), and business-data platforms like ours that aggregate across the region. For single-country depth, the local players listed in our country guides are always stronger.

  • NECIPS (China) : China's national enterprise credit information publicity system, the official lookup.
  • MCA (India) : India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs, running the company register and CIN lookup.
  • ASIC (Australia) : Australia's corporate regulator, offering paid company searches and ABN lookup.

Three questions for APAC data

1. How many APAC markets do you need? For one or two markets, the local incumbents (TDB in Japan, NICE in Korea, Serasa in India) are always deeper. For cross-border work across APAC, D&B or a business-data platform like ours saves you from stitching together five different local contracts.

2. Can your team work in local languages? The strongest local providers in China, Japan, Korea and India operate in their national language. If your team reads Chinese or Japanese, the local tools are excellent. If you need English-language access, D&B, Creditsafe or a platform like ours are the practical choices.

3. Credit, compliance, or prospecting? APAC credit markets are nationally siloed. There is no pan-APAC credit bureau. For cross-border credit checks, D&B or Creditsafe provide consistency. For compliance and KYB, Handshakes covers ASEAN. For prospecting and contact data, a platform with regional reach is more practical than cobbling together local tools.

Frequently asked questions

No. Every Asian market runs its own company register and credit infrastructure. There is no APAC equivalent of Europe's BRIS or a pan-Asian credit bureau. The closest to a cross-border identifier is D&B's D-U-N-S number, and even that works through local partners whose depth varies.
Because the dominant platforms (Qichacha, Tianyancha, Aiqicha) are designed for Chinese users, in Chinese, behind domestic platforms. The data is rich (200M+ entities, court records, IP, financing), but accessing it from outside China typically means going through D&B (Huaxia D&B) or an intermediary. Direct access requires a Chinese-language team.
Australia (ASIC and ABN lookup), South Korea (DART for corporate filings), and parts of the Indian MCA data are relatively accessible. Japan's register exists but commercial data sits with TDB and TSR. China and Singapore have paid registers. The Nordics-style open-data model is rare in APAC.
If you need one market in depth, start with the local incumbent (see our country guides). If you need cross-border coverage, start with D&B for compliance or a business-data platform like ours for entity records and contacts. There is no single best entry point because the region is genuinely fragmented.