Four of China’s largest state-owned banks said on Sunday they plan to raise a combined 520 billion yuan ($71.60 billion) in private placements from investors, including the finance ministry, after Beijing pledged to help them support the economy.

BEIJING (Reuters) -Shares in China's big state-owned banks rose on Monday after the lenders unveiled around a $72 billion recapitalisation plan to boost their core capital. The recapitalisation aims to help the banks to increase capital buffers and manage asset quality strains.

Four of China’s largest banks are planning to raise up to $71.6 billion via share sales under a finance ministry-led plan aimed at bolstering capital and beefing up lending to help boost the economy.

Activity in China’s vast manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in a year in March, sending another sign of green shoots in the world’s second-largest economy as policymakers brace for more U.

The China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.5 in March, up 0.3 percentage points from a month earlier, running in the expansion territory for the second consecutive month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in a year in March, an official factory survey showed on Monday, in a positive sign for the world's second-largest economy as it deals with an escalating U.

The comments come as he prepares to unveil a massive slate of import taxes on Wednesday, in what he has called America's "Liberation Day". The measures will come on top of tariffs already imposed by Washington on aluminium,