History of Sino-foreign relations 1

The development of historical studies on modern Sino-foreign relations over the past 70-odd years can be roughly divided into two stages synchronizing with the development of the People’s Republic of China, that is, the 30 years from 1949 to 1976 and the 40 years since China’s reform and opening up. For a long period of time since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, studies on the history of modern Sino-foreign relations had focused on the history of imperialist aggression against China. The achievements made by the modern studies of history of Sino-foreign relations during this period is of the groundbreaking significance. Researchers applied the basic theories of Marxism and Leninism, broke down old conventions of diplomatic history studies before 1949 and set up the new subject system under the guidance of Marxism and Leninism. The reform and opening up started from 1978 brought vitality to the studies of the modern history of Sino-foreign relations.