ABSTRACT
China evolved its own form of civilization in an historical process which extends back over at least four thousand years. In that time, intricate cultural patterns were developed which had immense staying power. Industrialization in China is identified as a national task, making demands on every individual. In the later European Middle Ages, the countries of north-west Europe began to move ahead with accelerated speed, adopting the capitalist mode of production and entering on the road to industrialization. Europeans began to draw China into the world market on a significant scale in the eighteenth century, just as the industrial revolution was beginning in Europe. Since China is by far the largest country in the world in terms of population size, it is not surprising that attempts to industrialize have attracted considerable world attention, especially because people have been accompanied by social and ideological upheavals of an unprecedented character.
