Fitch rules out hard landing in China, but skeptical over reforms

The slowdown in China worrying global investors is unlikely to result in a hard landing although high debt levels are a concern, said Fitch Ratings in a special report released on Wednesday. Fitch expects China's economy to grow between 6 to 6.5 percent in 2016 and 2017, slightly slower than the country's official growth target is 6.5 to 7 percent this year.

The agency believes strongly that China has the administrative and financial resources to avoid a disruptive slowdown to near-zero growth over the rating outlook horizon of about two years. However, it added that the degree of clarity over authorities' reform strategy remains low relative to scale of risks.

Fitch is still maintaining its stable outlook on China's credit rating for now, unlike S&P's and Moody's Investors Service who have lowered the outlook in recent weeks amid concerns over debt levels in the world's second-largest economy.