(Yicai Global) July 12 -- On July 10, the China Real Estate Association announced a list of property developers with A-level or above credit ratings this year.

Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd., a holding company under Evergrande Group (HK:3333) received an AAA rating the association's highest.

This is the first time that a group-level property developer has won the rating.

An AAA rating demonstrates good enterprise credit, great integrity, outperformance in indicators, high enterprise quality, strong awareness of integrity, sound operations, strong performance and good societal reputation.

The list shows 96 property developers granted A-level above credit ratings. Of these, Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd. and other local Evergrande affiliates claimed 30 slots on the list.  

AAA is the highest enterprise credit rating, but large national property developers generally face unbalanced regional development and thus for a group-level property developer to win an AAA rating is very difficult, an industry expert explained. Those  granted AAA ratings were mostly local companies, but that Evergrande Real Estate Group made the list with an AAA rating indicates the group's exceptional comprehensive strength.

As of the end of last year, Evergrande had USD198.5 billion (CNY1.35 trillion) in total assets, sales of over CNY400 billion and a cash balance of CNY304.3 billion, data show. It reportedly had sales of CNY244.1 billion in the first half, up 72% annually, and equity sales topping the industry at CNY229.2 billion.