Economic history of China before 1912

The economic history of China covers thousands of years and the region has undergone alternating cycles of prosperity and decline. China had, from the 16th century CE to the end of the 19th century CE, the world's largest and most advanced economies. Economic historians usually divide China's history into three periods: the pre-imperial era before the rise of Qin; the early imperial era from Qin to the rise of Song (221 BCE to 960 CE); and the late imperial era, from Song to the fall of Qing.

Neolithic agriculture had developed in China by roughly 8,000 BCE. Stratified bronze-age cultures, such as Erlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang (16th–11th centuries BCE) and Western Zhou (11th–8th centuries BCE), a dependent labour force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy supported these early handicraft industries as well as urban centres and considerable armies. This system began to disintegrate after the collapse of the Western Zhou in 771 BCE, leaving China fragmented during the Spring and Autumn (8th–5th centuries BCE) and Warring States eras (5th–3rd centuries BCE).

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