Question

How did the Opium Wars affect China's economy?

Answer 1

In the Cold War years, the literature on China’s development focused on two themes. One was that trade and more generally participation in the international marketplace is unlikely to be helpful for poor countries in search of economic development. A second was the notion that China’s culture and social structure were inimical to development, that you cannot have substantial economic development in China without sweeping and dramatic changes in social structure and individual behavior. Both of these ideas were mistaken. Let us take a closer look at China’s economic history.