ECONOMY

OF CHINA
ECONOMY
OF ANCIENT
CHINA
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 Ancient Chinese people traded salt, iron,
fish, cattle, and silk.

 Through the famous Silk Route, they also

traded externally: goods from China could
wind up in Greece.

 At the eastern end of the route, the Chinese

traded with people from India, providing
them with silk and getting lapis lazuli,
coral, jade, glass, and pearls in
exchange. 3
× The ancient Chinese first used cowrie shells for
money in China as early as 1800 BC.
× Then people used metal imitations of cowrie shells,
and then metal strings of beads called cash.

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× Cowry shells were used as the medium of
exchange / money in the late Xia Dynasty
(21st century BC).
× Bronze replicas of cowries became the
first Chinese cast coins.

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× But later, when it was hard to get
enough cowrie shells, people in
China switched to using metal
imitations of cowrie shells, and
then metal strings of beads called
cash.

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× Probably eight or nine out of every ten
people who lived in ancient China spent
most of their time out in the fields, planting
seeds, weeding, and then harvesting and
processing grain.

× In northern China, people mostly farm

wheat, while in southern China it is mostly
rice.

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× But when the great empires formed, about 500 BC,
people in China also began to trade a lot with other
people all across Asia, along the Silk Road.

× China shipped silk, tea, and porcelain west to

Central Asia, and imported horses, gold, silver,
wool carpets, glass, and steel.

× In order to have something to sell on the Silk Road,

Chinese traders encouraged manufacturers to
make more and more fancy silk cloth. Chinese silk
cloth sold for a lot of money in other countries

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Mining and steel in ancient China
× Another important industry in China
was mining. In the Han Dynasty,
people in China began running
businesses digging deep pits to get
salt to sell. Most of the men who
worked in the mines were probably
slaves.

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Medieval China – glass and cotton

× As the Silk Road continued to bring imports to

China, gradually people in China began to
make some of these things for themselves.
By the 400s AD, Chinese manufacturers were
blowing their own glass.

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China prints the first paper money

× By about 1100 AD, under the Song

Dynasty, there was such a shortage
of silver for coins that people in
China started to use the world’s first
paper money.

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ECONOMY
OF CHINA
TODAY
× The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is
located in East Asia, governed by the
Communist party in the capital of Beijing.

× It has jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five

autonomous regions, four municipalities, as
well as two special administrative regions --
-Hong Kong and Macau.

× Mandarin Chinese is its official language,

one of the most spoken languages in the
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world.
× The PRC has the largest population in
the world, which is estimated to reach
over 1.4 billion in 2019.

× China is the world’s second-largest

economy in terms of gross domestic
product (GDP).

× Since economic reform began in 1978,

China has been among the world’s
fastest-growing economies, relying
largely on investment- and export-
oriented growth. 14
THE 3
INDUSTRIES
DRIVING CHINA'S
ECONOMY
M A N U FA C T U R I N G
× China makes and sells more manufacturing
goods than any other country on the planet.
The range of Chinese goods includes iron,
steel, aluminum, textiles, cement,
chemicals, toys, electronics, rail cars,
ships, aircraft and many other products.

× As of 2015, manufacturing is the largest and

most diverse sector in the country.
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M A N U FA C T U R I N G
× Almost 80% of all air conditioner units are
created by Chinese businesses.

× It is also the biggest producer of solar cells,

shoes, cellphones and ships.

× Though it does not receive the same kind of

credit as Sweden, Germany, Japan or the U.S.,
China has a thriving automobile manufacturing
industry. 17
SERVICES
× A 2010 world study found the services
sector accounted for 43% of total Chinese
production, slightly less than its
manufacturing sector.

× There are still more Chinese employed in

agriculture than in services, which is a
rarity for more developed countries.

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SERVICES
× As of 2015, however, there is a young
and burgeoning services market. This
has bolstered tourism and led to a
proliferation of Internet and phone
products.

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A G R I C U LT U R E
× Another area where the Chinese set the
global standard is in agriculture.

× There are nearly 300 million Chinese farmers

× Rice is the dominant agricultural product in

China, but the country is also very
competitive in wheat, tobacco, potatoes,
peanuts, millet, pork, fish, soybeans, corn,
tea and oilseeds. 20
A G R I C U LT U R E
× Farmers are not allowed to own and
mortgage farmland and cannot get
credit to purchase better capital
equipment, two functions which promote
innovation and development.

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CURRENCY
SYSTEM
× The renminbi ("people's
currency") is the currency of
China, denominated as the yuan.

× Subdivided into 10 jiao or 100 fen

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GLOBALIZATION
× China has been a member of the
World Trade Organization (WTO)
since December 2001 and is the
world’s largest trading power

× It has established itself as the primary

trade partner of many countries
worldwide. Consumer goods made in
China represent a large share of the
country’s exports.

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