Foreign Trade After the Opium War (1840–1894)

Yuqin Sun, Jinwen Chen, Qinghong Jiang, Xu Chang, Baiqing Zheng and Mike Hill

Chapter 1 in A General History of China's Foreign Trade:Volume 2, 2025, pp 1-62 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Since the middle of the 19th century, Western countries have successively realized industrialization, and their demands for overseas markets have increased dramatically. China, with its large population and abundant resources, naturally became the coveted target of the capitalist Powers. Qing Dynasty (1616–1911) was the last Imperial Dynasty of China, a dynasty of Manchu emperors. Its policy of strictly restricting foreign trade and its deeply self-sufficient natural economy was highly resistant to the economic expansion of the Powers. In order to open the door to China and unveil economic plunder of China based on the export of commodities, Britain, the number one capitalist Power at that time, brazenly launched the Opium War (1840–1842), which opened the prelude to capitalist aggression against China. After that, China encountered a series of wars of aggression by the Powers, all of which ended in China’s failure and being forced to sign unequal treaties. China transformed from an autonomous feudal country to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society step by step…

Keywords: China; China's Foreign Trade; Chinese History (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F02 F1 F13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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