Armando V.

Mr. Dewaele

World History

14 December 2012

China

In the 1800s china simultaneously experiences major internal strains

And western experiences pressure backed by military might which china cannot
match. China's position in the world and self-image is reversed in a more lo year
period from leading civilization to sub ducted and foreign
countryEasia.colombia.com. Through the 1200s china's imperial system flourishes
under the Qing (chin) or March dynasty. China is at the center of the world economy
as Europeans and Americans seek Chinese goods. Chinas attempt to ban the sale
of opium in the port city of canton leads to the opium war of 1839 in which the
Chinese are defeated by superior British arms and which results in the imposition of
the first of many unequal trades. The Chinese start to lose their money so the
start to trade. The trade open other cities, they ports first along the coast and
then through legal jurisdiction on Chinese territory their ports foreign country of
tariffs and Christian missionary presence.

In 1897, New foreign loans needs to pay the 1895 Japanese indemnity created an
annual central government deficit of about 20 million tales, or about 20 percent of
the Qing government budget. Tariff increases up to lo or 15 percent, well within the
range of tariffs set in fully-sovereign European countries, would probably have risen
more than needed revenue without hurting foreign trade. Tariffs provided one of the
most important sources of government revenue in Europe and the united states in
the nineteenth century, before the advent of income taxes. For example, high
British tariffs on opium exported to china from India came to provide about 15

percent of British India government revenue. But Qing china was prevented from
raising tariffs by the unequal treaties. Foreign businesses operating in china were
able to avoid paying most china taxes except for the nominal 5% tariff on foreign
trade, Chinese government business taxes could only be calculated from Chineseowned companies. Chinese companies were therefore placed in a position of
comparative tax disadvantage in their competition with foreign companies. In world
perspective chinas performance has been exceptional. In 1300, it was the worlds
leading economy in terms of per capita income. It outperformed Europe in levies of
technology, the intensity with which it used its natural resources, and capacity for
administering a huge territorial empire. By 1500, Western Europe had overtaken
china in per capita real income, technological and scientific capacity. From the
1840s to the middle of the twentieth century, chinas performance actually declined
in a world where economic progress elsewhere was very substantial. In the past
quarter century, china has had a rapid growth trajectory- a process of catch-up
which seems likely to continue well into the present century. By 2030 china's per
capita income will probably be above the world average, and it will again be the
worlds biggest economy as it was from 1300 to 1890.

Works cited

http://www.craig.csufresno.edu/International_Programs/JC/IJB/Volumes/Volume
%2011/V113-1.pdf

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_imperialism.htm

http://www.aldridgeshs.eq.edu.au/sose/modrespg/imperial/essays/effects.html