China' largest steel maker, Shanghai Baogang Group Company (Baosteel), stands out among domestic firms in the latest rating report of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services with a credit rating of BBB+, the company said.

Standard & Poor's has raised the credit rating of the group from BBB, giving the same promotion to its listed company, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd., in which the group holds 85 percent of the shares, Baosteel said in a press release Thursday.

It said the promotion reflects Baosteel's improved financial performance and sustained business expansion and will help the company raise more funds at the overseas capital market.

Standard & Poor's gave Baosteel a BBB+ rating in its first assessment of the group in 1997, but reduced it to BB+ with a negative prospect in 1999, following its merger with Shanghai Metallurgy and Meishan Iron and Steel Company. Baosteel was one of nine Chinese companies to get a BBB credit rating in 2003.

Baosteel is China's largest iron and steel conglomerate. It ranks sixth in the world with an annual steel output of 20 million tons. Thanks to the recent recovery of the global steel market and its own optimized product mix, the group reported an annual 33-percent rise in net profits in the first half of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2004)