China’s manufacturing accelerates as economy revives

BEIJING (AP) — Two surveys show China’s factory activity accelerated in February as the economy revived following the end of anti-virus controls that kept millions of people at home and disrupted travel and trade. Purchasing managers’ indexes issued by a business magazine, Caixin, and the official China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing rebounded to levels that show activity growing. Measures of production, exports and new orders all rose. Business activity is gradually recovering after the ruling Communist Party ended stringent anti-virus restrictions in early December. That followed a slump in activity that dragged last year’s economic growth to 3%, its second-lowest level since at least the 1970s.