OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has published its quarterly report "Viewpoint" - a compendium of 51 short topical commentaries on various sectors across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region authored by our corporate analysts in 2Q16. "Viewpoint" seeks to provide a single source of all non-rating action commentary for investors interested in the current themes and market activity surrounding rated entities in APAC.

Similar to last quarter's edition, commentary on China occupies a large proportion of the report, with 21 of the research reports focused on Chinese corporates. Major highlights include a Q&A-style report titled "What Investors Want to Know: China", our opinion that China's largest direct-sales online retailer by revenue, JD. com, does not have an investment-grade credit profile; our view that the default of Chinese state-owned enterprises operating in non-strategic sectors is more likely to be resolved via debt restructuring rather than state-supported debt repayment; and our expectation that China's steel-price surge is unsustainable.

In India, we discussed how lower car-ownership costs are supporting a stable outlook for the auto industry; in Indonesia, how the REITs are gaining momentum; in Malaysia, how a recent increase in natural-gas tariffs is positive for state-owned oil and gas company Petronas; and in Thailand, how profitability in the energy sector is likely to remain healthy in 2016, even as telecommunications operators face slower growth in data revenue.