Moody's Investors Service affirmed the investment grade credit rating of China Banking Corp. led by bankero William Whang on the back of its strong capitalization and profitability. The debt watcher maintained the Baa2 rating, a notch above the minimum investment grade, and stable outlook of the Sy-led bank. The rating, Moody's said, reflects the bank's credit strengths including stable capitalization and profitability, which support business expansion, and sound liquidity. China Bank's Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio has been steadily improving to 15.5 percent as of end-March this year from 14.9 percent in 2021 and 13.8 percent in 2020. "The improvement in the bank's capital since 2019 has been higher than the average of its peers, reflecting a combination of low loan growth from the pre-pandemic level in 2019 and increased profitability," Moody's said.