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European interest in China comes from the writings of Marco Polo.Jorge Álvares, who was a Portuguese explorer during the Age of Exploration. Qing rulers wanted to limit European trading in their territory.

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Before china had Imperialism the Qing Dynasty ruled China. Qing Dynasty existed from the early 1600s until 1912. Chinese society prospered during this time, and the Qing rulers were able to take control over large sections of land throughout the Far East.

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​The First Opium War was fought between the Qing Dynasty of China and Britain and took place from September 4th, 1839 until August 29th, 1842. It ended in October of 1860. it was about the Chinese not wanting to trade opium (looking back thats ironic) with the Europeans.

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​Japan also took advantage of China in its weakened state.  For example, it worked to increase its influence in Korea, a country that China had formally dominated.  The two countries eventually erupted into war over control of Korea in the form of the First Sino-Japanese War, which took place from 1894 to 1895.

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November 2nd, 1899 to September 7th, 1901

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the Chinese rebelled against the Europeans and they were called BOXERS. They wanted to end western influence in China all together. The war ended eventually on September 7, 1901. with the Boxer protocol. Boxer Protocol was an agreement between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight Nation Alliance.  It contained many clauses, but the most significant included provisions for punishment against China and the Boxers, as well as protections for the foreign nations going forward.

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this opened up China to more trade opportunities for the western powers and created a large market for the goods from across the world.