S&P Global has won approval from Beijing to start scoring domestic bonds, becoming the first foreign credit-ratings agency to gain entry into the fast-developing Chinese market.

The New York-based company said yesterday that it had been approved by the People’s Bank of China to establish a company in Beijing, the central bank said on its website. Under the terms of its licence, S&P is authorised to rate issuers and issuances from financial institutions and corporates, structured finance bonds and renminbi-denominated bonds from foreign issuers, sometimes known as Panda bonds.

The announcement comes as China opens its bond market to international investors and hopes to usher more foreign investment into the country. It also follows months of negotiations with the US and a promise in 2017 to allow in US rating agencies, at a time when the world’s two largest economies are locked in a bitter trade war.