China’s manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in more than a decade in February, in one of the clearest signs that the world’s second-largest economy is shaking off the effects of a nationwide Covid-19 outbreak and years of growth-constraining pandemic curbs.
The official manufacturing sector purchasing managers’ index hit 52.6 last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, up from January’s reading of 50.1 and beating economists’ expectations of 50.5. The reading was the highest since April 2012.
A figure of more than 50 on the index, which surveys companies about their activity, indicates an expansion, while one below signals a contraction.