Feb official manufacturing PMI highest since April 2012
Nonmanufacturing PMI highest since March 2021

BEIJING, March 1 Reuters China39;s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade in February, an official index showed on Wednesday, smashing expectations as production zoomed after the lifting of COVID19 restrictions late last year.

The manufacturing purchasing managers39; index PMI shot up to 52.6 from 50.1 in January, according to China39;s National Bureau of Statistics, above the 50point mark that separates expansion and contraction in activity. The PMI far exceeded an analyst forecast of 50.5 and was the highest reading since April 2012.

The world39;s secondlargest economy recorded one of its worst years in nearly half a century in 2022 due to strict COVID lockdowns and subsequent widespread infections. The curbs were abruptly lifted in December as the highly transmissible Omicron spread across the country.

Global markets cheered the big surprise in the PMI with Asian stocks and the Australian dollar reversing earlier losses, the offshore yuan perking up and oil rallying, as investors took a more optimistic view on China39;s economic prospects.

The high PMI readings partly reflect the economy39;s weak starting point coming into this year and are likely to drop back before long as the pace of the recovery slows, said Julian EvansPritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics.

We had already been expecting a rapid nearterm…