China rating agency says Western rivals caused financial crisis

The head of China’s largest credit rating agency has hit out at western counterparts for causing the global financial crisis.

Guan Jianzhong, chairman of Dagong Global Credit Rating, told the Financial Times the world's largest creditor nation China should have a bigger say in how government debt is rated.

"The western rating agencies are politicised and highly ideological and they do not adhere to objective standards," he says.

"China is the biggest creditor nation in the world and with the rise and national rejuvenation of China we should have our say in how the credit risks of states are judged."

Jianzhong believes global credit rating giants Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch have become too close to the clients. He pointed to the practice of "rating shopping" by companies, which would offer their business to the agency providng the most favourable rating.

"The financial crisis was caused because rating agencies didn't properly disclose risk and this brought the entire US financial system to the verge of collapse, causing huge damage to the US and its strategic interests," Jianzhong says.