Finance Ministry blasts credit rating downgrade

The Ministry of Finance has said it deeply regrets and firmly disagrees with Fitch Ratings' decision to downgrade China's sovereign credit rating, describing the move as "biased" and "failing to objectively reflect the actual resilience of China's economy and the broad consensus in global markets".

The downgrade was announced despite Fitch's recognition that China has robust economic growth prospects and a key position in global trade based on communications between the company and the Chinese side, the ministry said in a statement late Thursday.

Compared with other economies with similar ratings, Fitch's decision "fails to fully and objectively reflect China's actual situation, and the international and domestic markets' consensus on the recovery and improvement of China's economy", the ministry said.