China’s Post-Covid Bounce Has Arrived

China’s economy has kicked off the year of the rabbit with a bounce worthy of its sprightly zodiac avatar. That raises the probability of stronger global growth this year, and higher oil prices, too—although the biggest effects are likely to show up in the second half of 2023.

The January and February Chinese purchasing managers indexes are always worth watching because they are one of the few pieces of concrete data to emerge from China in late winter and early spring. And the February PMIs, released on Wednesday, were strong indeed. Both the official and privately compiled Caixin manufacturing indexes jumped, with the former reaching 52.6, its highest since 2012. Services, construction, export orders and overall employment all bounced back sharply, too.