Ratings bias accusations flow both East and West

Guan Jianzhong, Dagong's Beijing-based chairman, criticises the big three international rating agencies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch - for serving a pro-United States agenda.

"Because of the connectivity and economic and political influence of the US as a superpower, the agencies have become used to a way of thinking," said Guan.

"If we look at their method, their way of thinking reflects they are in favour of the strong power and hegemony [of the US]."

He cites as an example the big three agencies' rule of capping all corporate issuers' rating at no higher than the sovereign rating. Many emerging-market issuers have complained this sovereign cap unfairly and arbitrarily raises their cost of capital, without penalising firms in developed nations.

Guan takes issue in particular with the United States' triple-A rating. The big three agencies, he says, give consideration to criteria such as gross domestic product per capita, which he says has no bearing on a nation's creditworthiness.

"The solvency of the central government is not linked to the GDP per capita," said Guan.

While Guan acknowledges that S&P did downgrade the US below triple A in 2011, he said key people were subsequently pushed out as punishment. The big three also consider a country's political system when applying a sovereign rating, favouring the liberal democracies of the West, which disadvantages emerging markets.