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China criticizes S&P credit rating cut as ‘wrong decision’

In this photo taken on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, a woman walks by a machine demolish an old building at the Central Business District in Beijing. The Standard & Poor's rating agency cut China's credit rating on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 due to its rising debts, highlighting challenges faced by Communist leaders as they cope with slowing economic growth. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
In this photo taken on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, a woman walks by a machine demolish an old building at the Central Business District in Beijing. The Standard & Poor's rating agency cut China's credit rating on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 due to its rising debts, highlighting challenges faced by Communist leaders as they cope with slowing economic growth. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) In this photo taken on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, a woman walks by a machine demolish an old building at the Central Business District in Beijing. The Standard & Poor's rating agency cut China's credit rating on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 due to its rising debts, highlighting challenges faced by Communist leaders as they cope with slowing economic growth. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

By Associated Press 3 min read

BEIJING (AP) – China’s Finance Ministry on Friday criticized the cut in the Standard & Poor’s rating agency’s credit rating on Chinese government borrowing as a “wrong decision” and said it ignores the country’s economic strength.

S&P announced the change Thursday, citing rising debt it said increased financial risk. The move added to warnings China’s debt burden might drag on economic growth or threaten the financial system. It followed a similar downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service in May.

The timing is awkward for the ruling Communist Party, which wants to project an image of stability ahead of a twice-a-decade congress next month at which President Xi Jinping is due to be named to a second five-year term as leader.

The Finance Ministry complained S&P ignored China’s stable economic growth and reform efforts. It noted official data showed the economy grew by 6.9 percent in the first half of 2017 over a year earlier and government revenue rose by nearly 10 percent.

“The Standard & Poor’s downgrade of China’s sovereign credit rating is a wrong decision,” the ministry said on its website. “This misreading neglects China’s good fundamentals and development potential.”