ABSTRACT
Global competition for trade caused divisions in the Chinese government, a situation underpinned by ever-intensifying friction between Chinese native and non-native merchants. This resulted in the development of a national economy with various forms of government intervention on the coast of China. Government-mediated market activities in different sectors soon defined the size of the public sector. Chinese merchants were restricted subsequently from entering the global market directly without government intermediaries, particularly whenever the government in power was effective in separating the public and private sectors. The foreign presence on the coast also played a critical role in affecting the power balance between the central and provincial governments, and by manipulating divisions between the public and private sectors. China resisted foreign competition and integration under the gradually emerging world order by rejecting the gold exchange standard, causing an acute crisis in Chinese politics.
