Credit rating analysts from China and overseas on Thursday (7 September 2017) jointly called to set up a multilateral rating system to increase investment efficiency under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Speaking at the Credit Forum of China-Arab States Expo 2017 on Thursday, Ai Renzhi, a credit rating committee member at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, raised her proposal to establish a multilateral credit rating institute under the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Most of the countries under the Initiative are developing countries and much of their capital comes from internal capital markets,” Ai said. “We should discuss the possibility of setting up a credit rating agency, with help from the Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia (ACRAA) and the European Association of Credit Rating Agencies (EACRA), within the 65 or so countries under the Belt and Road, to guarantee regional capital operations and protect the interests of creditors.”

At the forum, ACRAA said it is willing to cooperate and lay out a foundation for the new institute, with new benchmarks and methodologies geared towards promoting China’s green bonds and green development model to more countries, Faheem Ahmad, ACRAA president, announced.

China’s green bonds market, which allows financial institutes to raise money for green projects, was highly praised by the president. He also gave credit to China for shouldering responsibility in cutting carbon emissions, while calling for the expansion of green bonds through the Belt and Road.

Echoing Ai, EACRA President Thomas Missong added that the information and documents at different rating agencies would be of great help to set up the multilateral rating institute, but it would require great coordination and negotiation efforts, as each country has its own way of administration and usually only one’s own system is permitted.

“China will have to supervise the project [of the credit rating system]. There will be a need for supervision in the financial area, in managerial area too. There are many different projects. We will need great experts from Chinese side to manage and supervise,” said Norbert Gaillard, a noted French independent consultant, adding that smaller, local agencies will have a big role to play as all their knowledge regarding the region will be crucial for analysts to understand risks and perform efficient analysis.