Europe Crisis Adds Concern to China Outlook at Moody’s

The drop in China’s exports caused by Europe’s debt crisis may affect whether Moody’s Investors Service raises the nation’s sovereign debt rating, said Tom Byrne, a senior vice president at the company.

Moody’s raised China’s foreign- and local-currency debt ratings to Aa3, the fourth-highest out of 10 investment-grade rankings, in November 2010. It is the only one of the three biggest credit-rating companies with a “positive” outlook, an indication the rating may be raised usually within two years.