Fitch Ratings, one of the world's leading ratings agencies, has recently upgraded its Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Ratings at China's largest State-owned commercial banks to "stable", on expectations that strong government support would be forthcoming in the event of economic stress.
China's five State-owned commercial banks account for 49 percent of the overall assets in the country's banking sectors. As the largest shareholder in each of these banks, the central government has long provided solvency and assets quality support to these institutions, Fitch said. Deposit reserves at these banks, which came in at 19 percent of M2 at the end of 2011, could be released in the event of a liquidity strain, the agency said.
