China manufacturing rebounds in March amid tech, virus risks

BEIJING (AP) — A survey shows China’s factory activity rebounded in March from a three-month slowdown as export orders rose. The monthly index of manufacturing issued by the China’s statistics agency and an industry group rose to 51.9 from February’s 50.6 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity expanding.  Chinese manufacturing has rebounded to above pre-pandemic levels in most industries but consumer and export demand have been slower to recover. Economist Iris Pang of ING said the recovery is “a fragile one” due to U.S. sanctions on Chinese technology companies and renewed anti-virus measures abroad that might depress export demand.