Old World & New World · Article 20 of 22 · 1978–2001
Reforms and trade rules turned production into a global chain
People & builders: Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997); Tim Berners-Lee (1955–); European leaders who negotiated Maastricht; WTO delegates
China changed its domestic economy and international role
Reforms associated with Deng Xiaoping after 1978 expanded experiments in agriculture, industrial management and foreign investment. Special economic zones such as Shenzhen grew within a system that retained major state controls. Factories drew in rural migrants and supplied consumer markets abroad, while labor regulations, regional inequality and pollution became increasingly consequential. Reforms raised living standards for many households but did not distribute the benefits equally.
China’s accession to the World Trade Organization on 11 December 2001 formalized important trade commitments. The new global division of labor involved producers in many Asian countries, not China alone. Final assembly could take place in one country while components, designs, finance and consumers were spread across several others.
European governments invented a different form of integration
Six western European states had founded the European Economic Community through treaties signed at Rome in 1957. Later agreements deepened cooperation. The Maastricht Treaty, signed in February 1992 and effective in November 1993, established the European Union and advanced plans for a single currency and common institutions. The changes were a response to European experiences of repeated war, as well as economic competition.
The European project did not make separate national histories disappear. Citizens and governments continued to disagree about where decisions should be made, how borders should be controlled and how costs should be shared. Integration brought new rights and markets while transferring some authority to common bodies.
The network became faster than its regulators
Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web in 1989 at CERN and helped make its first public systems available in the early 1990s. The Web built on an older Internet and made linking documents and services considerably easier for ordinary users. Business networks gained tools to coordinate production, banking, communication and trade in real time.
This period widened access to goods, information and employment in connected industries. It also increased exposure to financial contagion, supply interruptions and fast-moving falsehoods. The older dependence on ports and trade corridors survived; digital systems made that dependence more intricate and less visible.
Dates & turning points
- 1978: China initiates a new era of economic reforms.
- 1989–1991: The World Wide Web is proposed and begins to be implemented.
- 1992–1993: Maastricht Treaty is signed and the European Union is established.
- 1 January 1995: World Trade Organization begins operations.
- 11 December 2001: China becomes a WTO member.