Foreign Trade During the Period of Beiyang Government (1912–1927)

In 1911, the vigorous Xinhai Revolution broke out, which was a bourgeois democratic revolution in a more complete sense. It not only overthrew the feudal autocratic Qing Dynasty but also ended the feudal autocratic monarchy that had ruled China for 2,000 years and established the first bourgeois republican government in Chinese history. On 1 January 1912, the Nanking Interim Government was established in Nanjing. Sun Yat-sen took office as Interim President and changed the country’s official name to “Republic of China (ROC)”, which marked the bourgeoisie stepping on the political stage. The various policies and measures formulated by the Nanking Interim Government reflected the aspirations and interests of the Chinese national bourgeoisie. Although the Nanking Interim Government ended after only three months, and Beiyang Government (also known as Northern Warlord Government) controlled the regime, the trend of relying on the state power to promote the development of China’s capitalist economy did not change. Under the influence of the new foreign economic and trade environment, Beiyang Government issued many policies and measures to develop the capitalist economy under domestic pressure, which promoted the development of foreign economy and trade during this period. With the outbreak of World War I, the European Powers loosened their control and plunder of the economies of colonial and semi-colonial countries, which brought unprecedented opportunities for the development of the national economies of backward countries, including China.