Lianhe Ratings Global Limited (“Lianhe Global”) has upgraded the global scale Long-term Issuer Credit Rating of Yancheng High-tech Zone Investment Group Co., Ltd. (“YHZIG” or “the company”) to ‘BBB+’ from ‘BBB’; Issuer Rating Outlook Revised to Stable
The Issuer Credit Rating upgrade reflects the strengthened support from Yancheng Municipal People’s Government (“the Yancheng government”) to YHZIG. In the past few years, the Yancheng government injected a large amount of cash capital, local state-owned enterprises’ (“SOEs”) equity and other assets into YHZIG to support the company’s development.
We believe this continues to reflect a high possibility that the Yancheng government would provide strong support to YHZIG if needed, in light of its indirect 100% ownership of YHZIG, YHZIG’s strategic position as an important development and operation entity in Jiangsu’s Yancheng City (“Yancheng”), especially in Yancheng High-tech Zone, and the strong linkage between the Yancheng government and YHZIG, including management supervision, strategic alignment, and ongoing operational and financial support. In addition, the Yancheng government may face significant negative impact on its reputation and financing activities should YHZIG encounter any operational or financial difficulties.
The Stable Outlook reflects our expectation that YHZIG’s strategic importance would remain intact while the Yancheng government will continue to ensure YHZIG’s stable operation.