page_title: Economic history of China before 1912
section_title: Late imperial era
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of China before 1912 / Late imperial era
caption_attribution_description: Coins of China (Song through Qing dynasties), Japan and Korea. The "Ta Qing" coin to the left appear to be from the Kang-Xi era (1662-1722). 铜钱（圆形方孔钱），自己拍摄 2004-10-24
context_page_description: The economic history of China covers thousands of years and the region has undergone alternating cycles of prosperity and decline. China, for last two millennia, was one of the world's largest and most advanced economies. Economic historians usually divide China's history into three periods: the pre-imperial era before the rise of Qin; the early imperial era from Qin to the rise of the Song; and the late imperial era, from Song to the fall of the Qing.
  Neolithic agriculture had developed in China by roughly 8,000 BCE. Stratified Bronze Age cultures, such as Erlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang and Western Zhou, a dependent labor force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy supported these early handicraft industries as well as urban centers and considerable armies. This system began to disintegrate after the collapse of the Western Zhou in 771 BCE, leaving China fragmented during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States eras.
  As the feudal system collapsed, most legislative power transferred from the nobility to local kings.
context_section_description: In 960, Zhao Kuangyin led a coup which established the sixth dynasty in fifty years. The Song dynasty saw a steep economic rise of China. The Late Imperial Era, encouraged by technological advancement, saw the beginnings of large-scale enterprise, waged labour and the issuing of paper money. The economy underwent large increases in manufacturing output. Overseas trade flourished under the Ming dynasty. Investment, capital, and commerce were liberalised as technology advanced and the central state weakened. Government manufacturing industries were privatised. The emergence of rural and urban markets, where production was geared towards consumption, was a key development in this era. China's growing wealth in this era lead to the loss of martial vigour; the era involved two periods of native rule, each followed by periods of alien rule. By the end of the isolationist Manchu Qing dynasty (1664–1911), China's development slowed, falling behind that of the west.
  The food production grew thanks to more lands being cultivated and to the increasing yields. The production of iron and salt and other commodities also grew in this period. According to the GDP estimates by Broadberry et al, the per capita GPD was stable during the Song and Ming dynasties before going down during the Qing dynasty when the population increase outstripped the GDP growth. Thus Song China was the richest country in the world by GPD per capita at the turn of the millennium, by the 14th century parts of Europe caught up with it and the significant gap between China and Europe appeared by the middle of 18th century.
caption: Chinese coins from the Tang to the Qing dynasties
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