Yue Zhigang, President of China Chengxin International, stated at the "China Chengxin International 2024 Mid-Year Credit Risk Outlook & Investor Service Summit" on May 28 that rating agencies have gradually incorporated ESG factors into the credit rating system at this stage. It is necessary and important to establish a localized ESG rating system with international influence in the next step.
Yue Zhigang introduced that the bond market, as an important part of the financial market, plays an important role in guiding funds to key areas such as science and technology innovation and green development, and in helping to cultivate new quality productivity. At the same time, new products continue to emerge to help direct financing of the real economy. The issuance of innovative products continues to rise this year, providing strong support for key areas such as scientific and technological innovation and green finance.
It is worth noting that since the beginning of this year, regulatory authorities have strengthened the top-level design and standardized system construction of green finance market policies, and have successively introduced institutional measures to improve the green finance standard system, standardize ESG information disclosure of listed companies, strengthen financial support for green and low-carbon development, and strengthen green insurance protection in key areas.
Yue Zhigang believes that with the strengthening of policy support, the improvement of market mechanisms and the deepening of international cooperation, the future prospects for the development of green finance will be even broader. As an important tool to promote the development of green finance, ESG rating will also usher in greater development space. "At this stage, rating agencies have gradually incorporated ESG factors into the credit rating system, but my country's ESG rating business is still in its early stages of development. It is necessary and important to establish a localized ESG rating system with international influence in the next step," he said.
Yue Zhigang said that since the beginning of this year, my country's macroeconomic situation has started smoothly, with GDP growth exceeding market expectations, major production and demand indicators rising steadily, and employment and prices generally stable. In terms of bond market risks, default risks are generally controllable, and risk prevention and proper handling in key areas remain the focus of current attention.
Looking ahead, Yue Zhigang believes that considering the impact of favorable factors and dragging factors on economic growth, favorable factors supporting the stable operation of the economy will continue to play a role in the following quarters. The favorable factors mainly involve the continued improvement of external demand under the recovery of global manufacturing, the support brought by the accelerated issuance of special bonds and special treasury bonds to infrastructure investment, the service consumption may still have a certain resilience, and the monetary policy and fiscal policy still have room for improvement.
In Yue Zhigang's view, in order to better adapt to the new situation, implement new requirements, and develop new products, the rating industry needs to focus on "new credit", strive to change the traditional rating concept, optimize the rating method system, and innovate business products and services. At the same time, the rating industry should follow the general trend of digital financial development, use artificial intelligence and big data, continue to deepen the research and development of credit risk warning and rating system, strengthen the application of financial technology in credit risk assessment and rating warning, and improve rating warning capabilities. China Chengxin International launched the Qe rating system based on "default probability measurement", providing the market with a stable, reliable, unified and good default prediction effect of credit rating and default probability mapping standard, effectively improving rating warning capabilities, and better serving the credit risk management needs of investors and other market participants.
