Western influence in China affected the Chinese economy in three ways: Westerners introduced modern transportation and communications, created an export market, and integrated the Chinese market into the nineteenth century world economy. To some, this new way of thinking was beneficial for modernization, but for others, China was paying a heavy price with imperialism imposing a state of dependence on China, condemning China to a condition of underdevelopment, its local industry destroyed. Radical reformers wanted to eliminate traditional culture, condemning it as an instrument of oppression, they were interested in creating a new China and wanted to be respected by the modern world. First changes in traditional culture came in the late nineteenth century. Western books, art and ideas were introduced, art and literature becoming popular. Traditional culture remained popular in rural areas. Family values were still kept traditional, although as time went on they slowly adapted to the modern ways.
Western influence in China affected the Chinese economy in three ways: Westerners introduced modern transportation and communications, created an export market, and integrated the Chinese market into the nineteenth century world economy
