China signalled an easing of its crackdown on the once-freewheeling tech sector on Friday as President Xi Jinping seeks to bolster the economy in the face of growth-sapping Covid-19 lockdowns, sending shares in online heavyweights surging.

China's powerful Politburo, in a meeting chaired by Xi, said it will step up policy support for the world's second-largest economy, including its so-called "platform economy", fueling investor hopes that the worst may be over for....