With the enforcement of the removal system for distressed firms and the new Bankruptcy Law in China’s securities market in June 2007, the development of the bankruptcy process for firms in China is expected to create a huge impact. Therefore, identification of potential corporate distress and offering early warnings to investors, analysts, and regulators has become important. There are very distinct differences, in accounting procedures and quality of financial documents, between firms in China and those in the western world. Therefore, it may not be practical to directly apply those models or methodologies developed elsewhere to support identification of such potential distressed situations. Moreover, localized models are commonly superior to ones imported from other environments.

Based on the Z-score, we have developed a model called Z _China score to support identification of potential distress firms in China. Our four-variable model is similar to the Z-score four-variable version, Emerging Market Scoring Model, developed in 1995. We found that our model was robust with a high accuracy. Our model has forecasting range of up to three years with 80 percent accuracy for those firms categorized as special treatment (ST); ST indicates that they are problematic firms. Applications of our model to determine a Chinese firm’s Credit Rating Equivalent are also demonstrated.