Analysis Of The Tortuous Development Of Modern China's Foreign Trade And Customs Tax Rate Changes (1840-1931)

Modern China foreign trade of is one of the most active factors in modern China, and its structure, revolution and characters interacted with the economic and industrial development of China. Tariff plays an important role in exporting and importing in many aspects as an effective tool of foreign trade policy. The thesis discusses about the foreign trade development and revolution of customs tariff of modern China by three chronicle periods. First period was from rising of international trade all over the world to the Opium War between China and England. After comparing productive force, productive relation and trade theory and policy inside and outside of China, the author analyzed commodities structure and developing power of China foreign trade, market condition, tariff level and its influences. This was the key point of trade development and customs tariff changes of modern China.The second period was from 1840 to 1894. Because of the revolutions of trade and tariff, this period could be divided into two phases by the second Opium war. Between two Opium Wars, the paper took the trade of China and England as an example, and put emphasis on all kinds of reasons the normal trade kept the model as before even after costumes tariff had been forced to get down to 5%. Then the author tried to explain what kind of results "Likin" and half-tariff in inland ports produced on the export and import of China when the real costumes tariff got down less than 5%. At the same time the price effects on trade got cleared.The last period went from 1895 to 1931, and got cut into two by the First World War because of its great influences. The former part found out why the import and trade deficit increased through analyzing the commodities structure of modern China's foreign trade, explored its changing rules, and evaluated the dual results of low tariff and the half-tariff in inland ports on China's foreign trade. The last part interpreted the effects of world political condition on modern China's foreign trade, then make clear the connection of market demand outside and inside of China with export and import, and gave comments on the effects of costumes tariff on the trade development in this period.