Fitch Ratings: China’s international profile could diminish on coronavirus outbreak

Ratings agency Fitch said on Monday that coronavirus outbreak could diminish China’s international profile for two reasons. First, China will turn inwards and second, foreigners will turn away, it said.

“China’s political priority will be developing a strategy and implementing tactics to confront the virus and its fallout so as to preserve the leadership credentials of the Party. This will be time-consuming and resource-intensive,” James McCormack, global head of sovereign ratings at Fitch, said in a note.

“Short of an unforeseen exogenous crisis, it is hard to imagine international events of any sort being given a higher priority in Beijing. In the short term, at least, an inward orientation among Chinese policymakers is inevitable,” McCormack said.

Source: CNBC