What did the Open Door Policy involve?

1 Answer
Jun 28, 2017

I am assuming this refers to the Chinese Open Door Policy.

Explanation:

After Mao's death in 1976 there was a power struggle between moderates and radicals within the CCP. The moderates won. They decided that widespread economic reform was needed to make China a superpower. Part of this strategy was to pursue an Open Door Policy and reverse the isolationism experienced under Mao.

In order to modernise China needed the expertise of developed countries as well as increased trade. The Open Door Policy opened up the Chinese economy to the West. Special Economic Zones were set up usually in coastal regions where very favourable trading agreements were established.

Countries such as the USA, UK, France and China signed huge trade agreements with China. Initially this was to increase trade and use foreign investment to develop China's economy. However China is now a major player on the world economic stage and has the second largest economy in the world. Increasingly the trade has benefited the Chinese as Western markets cannot compete with Chinese labour costs.