From the time of Ming rule in the 16th century, to present day, China has been among the most powerful economic leaders worldwide. Naturally, China has had ups and downs due to global developments and discoveries, social and economic changes, political unrest, and just downright bad luck. But through it all, China always manages, in one way or another, to get back to that number one spot. This is why I believe that in 100 years, China will be the leading economic power.
In 1500 B.C.E., in the very early years of discovering, exploring, and colonizing the newly found Americas, Ming China was an untouchable economic power. All silver went through the country to be processed and all of the finer items such as silk and delicate dishware came out of China. The only real competition was the Muromachi state, but the Ming felt they were little more than an inconvenience. …show more content…
Even then, this wasn’t a complete win for the British Empire. Britain had to use the success of the industrial revolution, capitalize on the discovery of a huge, new continent, use China’s dependency on silver, trade, and American resources, and the political disaster China was facing after the fall of the Ming dynasty. Still, China recovered surprisingly fast and regained their economic powerhouse title in the 19th century after the Qing rose to power and Asia tapped into the industrial revolution as well as partaking in the opium wars with Britain. This economic battle, morally questionable though it was, aided China as their opium imports increased by more than