Abstract
Abstract This paper discusses the specificity of the initial impact of the British Industrial Revolution on China´s economy. This approach is important to a better understanding of the nature of the beginnings of capitalism in that country, a process which was both intentionally and unintentionally influenced by the contacts between UK and China. These early conditions contributed towards defining the subsequent course of the Chinese economy, leading to a low-growth trap experienced between about 1870 and 1950.
Highlights
The diffusion of the Industrial Revolution across the world was uneven
This paper discusses some aspects of the initial impact of the British Industrial Revolution on China, one of the wealthiest nations of that time as stated by Adam Smith (1976, p. 367) and identified by data provided by Maddison (2010)
It is important to highlight that the UK during its hegemony never overtook China's estimated GDP
Summary
The diffusion of the Industrial Revolution across the world was uneven. Different social formations received its impact in different ways, depending on their level of development, their knowledge of the changes brought by the new technologies, and the political and institutional arrangements for learning and absorbing those new technologies. This paper discusses some aspects of the initial impact of the British Industrial Revolution on China, one of the wealthiest nations of that time as stated by Adam Smith 45) evaluates that in the late eighteenth century "[i]n many areas of textile weaving and dyeing, western Europeans were still working on imitating Indian and Chinese processes; the same was true of manufacturing porcelain." Those historical bases provided ground for Chinas position in the global context: according to Figure 1, in 1800 China had the largest GDP in the world (Maddison, 2010), and, according to Allen What is important is to stress the non-capitalist nature of eighteenth century Chinese economy, an economy that was to receive the impact of the British Industrial Revolution. In the global expansion of British position, according to Darwin (2009, p. 40), "China was much the most striking case where military power was used in the interest of trade"
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