From isolation to innovation: the development of technology in China from the late 1800s and its global implications

Abstract

The presented thesis aims to explore the development of science and technology in the People’s Republic of China, a process which officially started with the reforms implemented by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s, however some sprouts of it can be found at the end of the Qing dynasty and during the Maoist period. The first chapter will analyze why China realized it needed said reforms, and it will deal with how underdeveloped the country was in terms of technology at the end of the 19th century and during the Maoist period, when compared to the rest of the world. The second chapter will explore the changes that the “Reform and Opening up” (改革开放 gaige kaifang) brought, and it will also focus on the changes happened in between the late 1990s and the early 2000s with the rise of technocracy. The third chapter will analyze in depth how Xi Jinping’s governance took the matter of science and technology to an unprecedented level. Finally, the fourth and last chapter will be divided into two parts, both of which will focus on how the scientific and technological development influenced the relationship between China and the West: the former will deal with the United States; and the latter with the European Union.