China February Factory Activity Shrinks to 3-Year Low; Export Orders Worst in a Decade

A man works at a workshop of a machinery manufacturing company in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China on Dec. 7, 2018. Reuters

BEIJING—Factory activity in China contracted to a three-year low in February as export orders fell at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, highlighting deepening cracks in an economy facing weak demand at home and abroad.

The gloomy findings are likely to reinforce views that the world’s second-largest economy is still losing steam, after growth last year cooled to a near 30-year low.