S&P cut its outlook for China’s sovereign credit rating on Thursday to negative from stable, but maintained the rating at AA-, saying the government’s reform agenda is on track but likely to proceed more slowly than expected.
The downgrade for China’s outlook follows a similar move by ratings agency Moody’s Investor Services in early March.
At the same time, S&P also downgraded the outlook for Hong Kong, a special administrative zone of China, to negative, while reaffirming the Asian financial center’s AAA rating.