Lianhe Ratings Global Limited (“Lianhe Global”) has upgraded the global scale Long-term Issuer Credit Rating of Jining City Development Capital Holdings Co., Ltd. (“JCDCH” or “the company”) to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB-’; Issuer Rating Outlook Stable.
The Issuer Credit Rating upgrade reflects the company’s increasing strategic importance in Jining City (“Jining”) and linkage with the People’s Government of Jining City (“Jining government”). The sole controlling shareholder and actual controller of the company changed from the Rencheng Finance Bureau (“Rencheng FB”) to the Jining State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (“Jining SASAC”) in July 2024, and the company’s business scope would expand from Rencheng to Jining. It is aligned with the development plans of the Jining government and strengthen JCDCH’s role in fostering industrial growth and economic development and in the region.
We believe there is a high possibility that the Jining government would provide strong support to JCDCH if needed. This mainly considers the Jining government’s full ownership of JCDCH, JCDCH’s strategic importance as an important local investment and development company (“LIDC”) for state-owned assets operation and industrial investment in Jining, and the strong linkage between the Jining government and JCDCH, including appointment of the senior management, strategic alignment, supervision of major investment and financing plan decisions and ongoing operational and financial support. In addition, the Jining government may face significant negative impact on its reputation and financing activities if JCDCH encounters any operational and financial difficulties.
The Stable Outlook reflects our expectation that JCDCH’s strategic importance would remain intact while the Jining government will continue to ensure JCDCH’s stable operation.