China's Reform and Opening-Up

Reform and opening-up started China's transformation into the world's largest exporter of goods, the source of much of what U.S. brands sell and fulfill today. The policy introduced market incentives in farming and industry and welcomed foreign investment and export production, starting with special economic zones such as Shenzhen in 1980. Over the following decades China built factories, ports and logistics networks at enormous scale, and its 2001 entry into the WTO accelerated exports. Many e-commerce supply chains still begin with a purchase order to a Chinese factory, so tariffs, port conditions and factory calendars, including the Lunar New Year shutdown, shape U.S. inventory planning.

• Purchase OrderPOA buyer's order document to a supplier
• Lead TimeTime from purchase order to sellable stock
• Country of OriginCountry where goods were made

• Canton System1757–1842 · Qing China limits Western trade to Guangzhou
• Shenzhen Special Economic Zone1980 · A zone beside Hong Kong opens to foreign investment
• China Joins the WTO2001 · China becomes the 143rd member of the WTO

1. Crossing the river by feeling for the stones (China Channel, Los Angeles Review of Books) chinachannel.lareviewofbooks.org
2. The Ingredients of China's Reform and Opening-Up Success (Institute for China-America Studies) chinaus-icas.org