China's manufacturing hits 12-month high, driven by strong orders

Workers weld parts at a factory which produces cabs for excavators in Qingzhou, in China's eastern Shandong province on October 31, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

BEIJING: China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in a year in March, a factory survey showed on Monday, with new orders boosting production, giving the world's No. 2 economy some reprieve as it deals with an intensifying U.S. trade war.

The reading should reassure officials that recent fiscal support is bolstering the $18 trillion economy, which is also benefiting from foreign buyers frontloading purchases in anticipation of further U.S. trade curbs.