HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) April 16, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had affirmed its foreign currency ratings on five Chinese financial institutions following its decision to revise the outlook on China's sovereign ratings to positive from stable. The ratings and the stable rating outlooks on the following institutions were affirmed: Bank of China (BB+/Stable/--), Bank of Communications (BB/Stable/--), China Construction Bank (BB+/Stable/B), Industrial&Commercial Bank of China (BB+/Stable/B), and China International Trust&Investment Corp. (BB/Stable/B). The affirmations reflect the steady progress that the five financial institutions have made in respect of reform. The ratings on the five institutions primarily reflect government support. This is counterbalanced by their weak financial profiles, which reflect high
