Almost all of the ratings directly awarded to new corporate bonds in China are now triple A, part of a long-term shift that has intensified alongside signs of official efforts to exclude riskier borrowers.
Figures from Goldman Sachs and Chinese data provider Wind that offer a snapshot of the country’s vast credit markets show that 90 per cent of rated corporate bonds issued in the first half of this year were given the top rating, more than in any full year in records going back to 2008.
So-called rating inflation has for years raised concerns over the reliability of China’s domestic credit rating industry. In 2016, less than half of rated bonds received a triple A rating.