Chinese rating agency strips Western nations of AAA status

China's leading credit rating agency has stripped the AAA ratings from the UK, US, Germany and France, accusing competitors in the developed world of a bias to the West.

In its first foray into sovereign debt ratings, Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. gave much greater weight to "wealth creating capacity" and foreign reserves than the established Standard & Poor's, Moody's or Fitch, The Telegraph reports. The US falls to AA, while Britain and France drop to AA-. Belgium, Spain, Italy are ranked at A-, alongside Malaysia. Meanwhile, China rises to AA+ with Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, reflecting the Communist state's £2trn and annual growth rate of 8% to 10%. Dagong rates Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and Singapore at AAA, along with the commod...